Matthew Wahlrab

Founder & CEO

2021 - Current

Intangible Assets account for the vast majority of value for a company. Yet few resources exist for executives who want to optimize their company value and reliably bring winning products to market. Rapid Alpha seeks to provide these services to professionals whose businesses are in the post-seed, Series A, pre-IPO, and small to medium-size post-IPO business growth stages.

Committee Chair for Risk Management

2023

The I3PM Risk Management Committee is an inclusive group that brings together IP managers and IP stakeholders to discuss and provide practicable solutions for managing IP-based risk. We are committed to: Establishing fundamental Risk Management principles required for quality in IP management Elevating the base-level expertise of IP stakeholders in planning, assessing, and mitigating IP risks in real world interactions Fostering the global exchange of ideas amongst IP stakeholders across multiple jurisdictions Supporting the principles of continuous improvement of IP Risk Management through the upskilling of IP professionals worldwide.

Venture Partner

2020

Venture Partner who supports the due diligence team. In my role, I conduct due diligence and transition Seed stage companies for successful Series A capital raises. Specialties include financial modeling, intangible asset diligence and valuation, marketing plan diligence. Boutique Venture Partners specializes in early-stage investments in healthcare and life sciences. We are a team of hardcore scientists and clinicians who partner with outstanding founders to create innovative and disruptive approaches that improve health and wellness.

Founder

2017 - 2021

Senior Manager of Intellectual Property & Market Analytics

2016 - 2017

As the leading Licensing Executive of Intellectual Property for the Invention Science Fund (Intellectual Ventures), I was responsible for Licensing, Patent Sales, and Business Development initiatives. Responsibilities included: • Strategic patent prosecution of 5,600+ patent assets • Created models that supported the creation of GreySky Ventures, the Deep Science Fund, and the recapitalization of two ISF funds. • Evaluating concepts within the fund’s patent portfolio for commercialization opportunities. • Built new start-up initiatives for Health IT, IoT, Agriculture 4.0, wearables, machine learning, security, and retail. • Assist with the preparation and solely responsible for negotiating Term Sheet Agreements, Patent Sales Agreements, and licensing agreements. During my time in this role, I cut patent prosecution costs in half over three years, increased the valuable issuance rate from 1-in-20 to 1-in-4, and increased year over year issuance rate by 40%. I was instrumental in building an ecosystem of large multi-national partners, start-ups, and investors to commercialize the fund’s intellectual property. Finally, I was a key member of the team that grew the Invention Science Fund’s licensing revenue, and laid the groundwork for equity positions in 50+ startups.

Manager of Intellectual Property & Marketing Analytics at Intellectual Ventures

2014 - 2016

As the manager of a small team, my main responsibilities included building processes to value the firm’s vast library of Intellectual Property, valuing claims, identifying relevant markets, and discerning which assets were most suited for new start-up opportunities, non-exclusive licensing, litigation, and/or patent sales. Accomplishments included: • Evaluated and catalogued 5,600 IP assets in 6 months. • Created a uniquely-searchable asset database, making it possible for stakeholders to prioritize the commercialization of targeted assets. • Built processes to scale claim chart production, used in patent sales and non-exclusive licensing, from 12 in 2013, to 120 in 2014, to 227 in 2015, to 440 in 2016. My team developed processes for prosecuting valuable IP issuances. The processes encouraged dialogue between business development, the inventors, and patent counsel to ensure patent issuances could be monetized and return value to shareholders.

Business Development Patent Analyst at Intellectual Ventures

2012 - 2013

Created presentation materials to support non-exclusive licensing engagements including claim charts, company reports, and licensing models. Authored invention descriptions describing the Invention Science Fund's 550 new patent applications filed per year.

PADI Scuba Diving Instructor

2001 - 2017

I am also a PADI IDC Staff Instructor, EFR Instructor Trainer, and am certified to instruct over 20 diving specialties. At my peak, I was a DAN Instructor Trainer. I have certified over 250 scuba diving certifications, mostly as an independent instructor. As a volunteer with the Ventura Country Shark and Ray project, I co-invented the first underwater shark tagging instrument and was amongst a pioneering team to catch sharks by hand and tag them underwater. I also led a Southern California underwater mapping and ecology survey through my scuba instruction business Cal Coast Divers.

Competitive Advantage & IP Specialist

2006 - 2012

As an independent patent consultant, I gained extensive experience working with academic Technology Transfer Centers, Faculty, In-house legal counsel, and boutique patent firms. Much of my work consisted of mining patent portfolios and conducting industry analysis for the purpose of developing business plans centered around targeted IP. Supported and negotiated licenses. Other experiences included: • Led PhD candidate professional development for careers in IP in conjunction with Caltech. Specialized in drafting quality patent application filings in emergency situations. • Consulted with clients in filing strategies to reduce costs, focus claim construction in areas where licensing and market opportunities were greatest. • Developed patent filing strategies to bolster future licensing positions, and “picket fence” areas of invention. • Prosecuted patents and advised clients on opportunities that arose during prosecution. Heavily involved in portfolio architecting for Fortune 500 clientele and top research institutions. • Built claim charts for potentially infringing products. • Conducted inventor interviews, performed relevant art and market analysis, pulled file wrappers to exploit patent prosecution history in developing claim chart rebuttals, prepared patentability reports, assisted inventors in preparing invention disclosure statements, drafted provisional patent applications and claims, prepare patent filing strategies to meet clients’ strategic objectives.

Founder / Electronics Engineer / B2B Specialist at Shadow Electronics

2004 - 2006

Founded RF-based engineering firm dedicated to building custom RF testing equipment for communications hardware. Filed corporation paperwork, authored business plan, launched a marketing campaign and web presence. Conducted research targeting potential clients and established vendor pricing. Cultivated and fostered new business relationships establishing new purchasing relationships with local companies for improving material delivery time. Established a price schedule for expedited deliveries. Results: Increased profitability 400% Recognized company core competencies, developed and implemented plan expanding services providing custom PCB, testing harnesses, and custom sub-miniature assembly cables.

Hyperbaric Technician

2002 - 2004

I have volunteered as a hyperbaric chamber “driver” and “tender” for the USC Wrigley and UCLA Hyperbaric Chambers. I was also the main driver for the largest underground tunnel project in North America at the time, pressing miners in Los Angeles County working under an underground water column for Taylor Shea.

Patent Engineer at Tope-McKay & Associates

2001 - 2003

Ghost drafted and prosecuted design and utility patent applications. Trained first-year associates and paralegal staff. Built business plans and supported the capital raise of X-labs. Applications included semiconductors, voice recognition, satellite communications, wireless ad-hoc networks, MEMS devices, book bindings. Clients included HRL, Caltech, JPL