Assessment and Advisory
Each of the engagements below is a defined unit of work, with a stated deliverable and duration, rather than an open-ended retainer. The question that opens each one is written the way clients actually ask it.
“We have the technology. Is there a business here, and is it ours?”
The full BOCA run against a specific technology: the market litmus test, then the eight contextual factors — IP position and freedom to operate, revenue models, cost of capital, team advantage, pricing, value proposition, value-chain visibility, and market structure.
“We are about to buy, license, or invest. What are we actually getting?”
What the asset consists of, what is owned versus licensed, what the dependencies cost, where the freedom-to-operate exposure sits, and — for anything with a model in it — whether training-data provenance can be documented at all.
“We are deploying AI. What do we need in place before someone asks us to prove it was responsible?”
Inventory of systems and their actual risk posture, the governance and documentation a regulator or counterparty will expect, and the gap between the two. The review is scoped to what the organization is actually doing, rather than to the full surface area of any one framework.
“What is this worth, when there is nothing to compare it to?”
Valuation input for early-stage technology, intellectual property portfolios and transactions in which comparables are absent, disputed or misleading — the situation this practice was built around.
“We have a mandate, a board, and public money. What should we actually do?”
Strategic planning for nonprofits, research institutions and technology-based economic development organisations, including the governance and policy structures needed to carry the plan. This is the work behind CF-08 through CF-13 and CF-14, and it includes the unwelcome recommendation when that is the right one. That body of work ran continuously until I joined Kohrman Jackson & Krantz in 2022; the practice remains open, and this is the unit through which it is engaged.
“We want to build a place where companies get started. How?”
Program and facility design, funding strategy across federal, state, philanthropic and corporate sources, nonprofit formation and board cultivation, and the initial incubation plan. Built repeatedly — see CF-04, CF-05 and CF-06.
“We have a room of people who do not report to each other and need to agree on something.”
Summit design and facilitation using the Appreciative Inquiry method described on the Method page. It is the right tool where the parties hold vetoes rather than authority — regional coalitions, multi-institution programs, and boards facing a long-deferred decision.
“We need someone in the room who has seen this before.”
Outside director and advisory board service for technology companies and nonprofits. Current and prior seats are listed on the About page.
Most recently, Ted was an outside Director on my company's board where he proved to be, among many things, a critical success driver as we negotiated strategic distribution deals ultimately leading to the successful sale of the company. Previously, my company worked closely with Ted in his capacity as a lawyer at a regional firm and subsequently at a major healthcare institution where he was my client.