Patent Attorney and Founder
If you invent something big, energy systems, medical devices, clean tech, or hardware that actually fixes problems, your first decision matters more than most people realize.
A lot of inventors make the same move. They aim for universities first. Research centers. Incubators. Pitch days on campus.
It sounds right.
It feels official.
But in many real cases, it slows everything down.
If your patent already solves a real-world problem, your fastest path usually isn’t a classroom. It’s the companies already living in that market. The ones with factories. Supply chains. Sales teams. Customers are waiting for better solutions.
That’s where momentum lives.
Big companies don’t just admire ideas. They deploy them.
So instead of asking, “Who will study this?” a better question is, “Who would buy this tomorrow if it existed?”
That’s where you go.
Because a patent isn’t a trophy. It’s a tool.
And tools are meant to be used.
I see inventors stall all the time.
They protect the idea.
They file the patent.
They celebrate.
Then… nothing happens.
Months pass. Sometimes years.
The patent sits in a folder while the inventor keeps polishing slides instead of building paths to market.
Here’s the truth most people don’t hear:
A patent doesn’t create a business.
A patent creates an opportunity to build one.
What happens after filing matters more than the filing itself.
Your invention has to leave the paper world and enter the messy one, factories, customers, budgets, timelines, shipping delays, real feedback.
That’s where ideas turn into products.
And products turn into income.
When founders reach out, most of them are excited. They should be. Creating something new is hard.
They say things like:
“I’ve got something special.”
“This could be big.”
“I just need funding.”
But money isn’t the first step.
Clarity is.
Before anyone writes a check, they want answers to questions most inventors haven’t asked themselves yet.
What problem did you solve?
Who cares about it?
Who pays for it?
Why you?
When you pitch, you’re not just pitching a device. You’re pitching judgment, discipline, and direction.
Investors look at people before they look at patents.
They listen for things like:
Can this person explain their product without jargon?
Do they understand the market?
Can they admit what they don’t know?
Will they panic when something breaks?
Because something always breaks.
Your idea may be smart. But investors are betting on your behavior when the smart part gets messy.
That’s why preparation isn’t about pretty slides.
It’s about thinking clearly before you speak.
Let’s make it practical.
Imagine you invented a smart door handle.
Nothing flashy. But useful. Secure. Different enough to earn a patent.
You file it.
Now what?
A lot of inventors stop right there and ask for funding.
But the real work starts with boring questions:
Who installs it?
Who manufactures it?
What does one unit cost?
What does a customer pay?
How many exist already?
Why would someone switch?
Ideas don’t die from lack of creativity. They die from lack of homework.
If you can’t explain how your door handle moves from factory to front door, money won’t fix that gap.
Investors don’t fund confusion.
They fund paths.
Even a simple product needs a clear lane from concept to customer.
Without that, your patent is just a locked door with no house behind it.
Then comes a bigger choice most inventors skip:
Do you want to build a company, or license the idea?
Those are two totally different lives.
If you build:
You manage people.
You raise money.
You handle operations.
You solve problems every day.
If you license:
You protect the idea.
You pitch partners.
You negotiate terms.
You collect royalties.
Some inventors love building. Others just want their idea used and paid for.
Both are smart paths.
The mistake is pretending they’re the same.
Running a company is a job.
Licensing is a strategy.
If you don’t decide early, you end up half-building and half-licensing, and doing neither well.
Clarity saves years.
People often ask about incubators and accelerators.
They can help.
Sometimes.
Universities are great when the idea still needs proof. Labs. Testing. Research. Validation.
But they also add friction.
Ownership splits.
Slow decisions.
Extra approvals.
For early discovery, that’s fine.
For market entry, it often isn’t.
If your patent is already functional and valuable, corporate partnerships usually move faster than academic programs.
Most large companies changed how they innovate.
They don’t guess in-house anymore.
They partner outside.
Instead of paying engineers to brainstorm, they work with founders who already solved something.
That’s good news for inventors.
It means companies are looking outward for ideas.
They just want them prepared, practical, and aligned with their business.
Energy tech shows this clearly.
If your patent touches power generation, storage, hydrogen, grids, conservation, things that cost millions to deploy, universities alone won’t carry it.
Those ideas need infrastructure.
Factories.
Regulatory teams.
Capital stacks.
Distribution networks.
I was on a call recently with a hydrogen company raising over $6 billion.
Not millions.
Billions.
That scale doesn’t come from pitch nights. It comes from corporate alignment.
And here’s a part inventors overlook:
When big companies license your patent, they protect it too.
They don’t want competitors copying it.
So your protection becomes their protection.
Your legal shield gets stronger.
Your reach gets wider.
Your odds of seeing real-world use go way up.
It’s no longer just your idea.
It becomes part of a system that already moves.
So how do inventors reach big companies?
Not with spam emails.
Not with “check out my invention.”
Most corporations now have:
Corporate venture teams.
Strategic partnerships.
Innovation scouts.
External development groups.
You’re not pitching engineers anymore. You’re talking to people paid to find solutions.
But the tone matters.
You don’t lead with features.
You lead with problems.
Instead of:
“Here’s my invention.”
You say:
“Here’s a problem your industry faces, and here’s how I solved it.”
That shift changes everything.
Companies don’t buy ideas.
They buy solved pain.
If you sound like a hobbyist, you get ignored.
If you sound like a partner, you get meetings.
Preparation isn’t about sounding smart.
It’s about sounding clear.
If you need five minutes to explain something simple, investors worry.
If you can explain something complex in thirty seconds, they lean in.
That’s not talent.
That’s work.
You refine until the story flows like normal speech, not technical manuals.
Your invention should sound like something people want to repeat, not translate.
People also ask about background.
Not credentials.
Experience.
Here’s mine, briefly.
I studied math at the University of Kentucky.
Started at Procter & Gamble. Learned systems and efficiency.
Moved into finance, mortgages, business loans, commercial lending.
Then the recession hit. Like many people, I pivoted.
I became a consultant.
Then a coach.
Then a capital advisor.
Over the last decade, I’ve helped raise over $100 million for startups and growth companies.
From ideas on paper to partnerships with large corporations.
The pattern stays the same.
The founders who move fastest aren’t louder.
They’re clearer.
They know what they want.
They know what lane they’re in.
They don’t chase every shiny option.
They choose.
Right now, I work across products and platforms.
Patented physical products.
Investment software.
Digital asset tools.
AI services.
Different industries. Same logic.
The best founders can explain their product to a kid and a boardroom.
If you can’t do both, pitching gets painful.
Because investors aren’t impressed by complexity.
They’re impressed by control.
Control of thinking.
Control of language.
Control of direction.
If you sound lost, they assume the business will be too.
So what advice actually helps early inventors?
Not hustle talk.
Not slogans.
Here’s what I tell people.
Raising capital feels like being dropped in a country where you don’t speak the language.
You’re nervous.
You don’t know the rules.
You worry about sounding dumb.
That’s normal.
There’s no shame in not knowing.
The mistake is pretending you do.
Founders often throw spaghetti at the wall. They pitch everyone with money. Friends. Relatives. Random investors.
That burns time and trust.
Instead:
Learn the process.
Understand stages.
Talk to people who’ve done it.
Even a few guided steps save months of mistakes.
Capital isn’t charity.
It’s partnership.
When someone invests, they’re betting on you.
Not just your patent.
So act like someone worth betting on.
If you’re holding a patent right now, pause and ask:
Do I want control or royalties?
Do I want speed or ownership?
Do I want a company or a license?
There’s no wrong answer.
There is a wrong delay.
Because patents don’t grow by themselves.
They grow when inventors stop thinking only like inventors and start thinking like builders.
Or partners.
Or licensors.
Pick your lane.
Then build for it.
Your idea doesn’t need hype.
It needs direction.
It doesn’t need buzzwords.
It needs traction.
It doesn’t need permission.
It needs a plan that fits how you actually want to work and live.
A patent is powerful.
But only when someone pushes it into the world.
Otherwise, it just waits.
And ideas weren’t made to wait.