Ep 06 - Mike Blake: A Journey Through Valuations, Ventures, Visions and Vodka
Episode Summary
Mike Blake, founder of High Score Strategies, discusses business valuation methodology, the changing landscape of patent protection, and his journey from venture capital to founding Atlanta's influential Startup Lounge networking series. He shares insights on when valuations help or hinder startup negotiations, the dramatic weakening of patent value through PTAB proceedings, and his recent relocation to Portugal.
Key Quotes
"Don't be obsessed with valuation. Go build a great company that lots of people want to invest in, and the valuation will often kind of take care of itself."
"You have to now invest in lots of prior art research on your own. Add a zero to that $30,000 patent cost if you want the patent to have a reasonable chance of being a good patent, a non-junk patent."
"We color-coded the name tags so that green meant you're an investor, blue meant you were a funding seeker. We wound up with three hundred people coming to that first Startup Lounge event."
Transcript
Hi welcome to Tales From The Sky Lounge, a podcast where we talk about business consulting and venture investing. We get out there in the world and talk to people who are making it happen in the tech world and get their stories as we talk through things that made a difference in the tech world.
Today's guest in the Sky Lounge is Mike Blake. Hi Mike, how are you doing? Welcome to Sky Lounge.
Hey Todd, I'm doing great, thanks for having me.
So great to have you here Mike. Why don't you give us a little bit of background? Who are you?
Yeah, I feel like we should have that Who song in the background as I do this. So I'm founder of a company called High Score Strategies. We're a business valuation and strategy consulting firm that helps our clients navigate their multi-million dollar valuation opportunities and challenges. Although adjacent to the accounting industry, I'm literally the worst accountant you'd ever meet and never have met, so I don't even do my own taxes. I'm a recovering venture capitalist and investment banker, general rabble rouser and troublemaker, which is why I fled the country back in July. I'm talking to you outside of our new home about 50 miles north of Lisbon, Portugal.
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