Hammer & Pick℠: Mine Your Intangible Assets, Unearth Substantial Value

Fact 1: Large corporations already have a treasure trove of potentially hugely valuable intellectual property and other forms of intangible assets in their possession.

Fact 2: The vast majority of this “creative capital” is buried deep within, and not even inventoried… never mind actually harnessed to create value.

So many great inventions in the R&D apparatus, new product concepts, brand names, marketing ideas, employee ideas… collecting dust.

At PE&Co., we believe that companies wanting to innovate for the future can often start by looking at the untapped value that they already have. An idea from yesterday’s cutting room floor may be thisclose to awesome and simply needs a few simple refinements. Or maybe today’s timing is better. Or perhaps it can be combined with something else. There are many options. After all, creativity is just connecting existing dots in new ways.

Introducing Hammer & Pick℠, a proprietary platform designed to (1) mine through corporations’ existing inventory of intellectual property and even more broadly-defined “ideas” emanating from labs, innovation centers, and even employees’ own passion projects, then (2) creatively, industriously, deploy our skills as entrepreneurs and opportunists to find all new pathways to commercialization.

The Hammer & Pick℠ endeavor is driven by not only by the fact that it’s just plain good business for a company to make use of what it already has, but also a principled belief that morally, all good ideas deserve their day in the sun.

The Hammer & Pick℠ approach is simple. First we mine, then we monetize. The mining is a blend of art, science, and a whole lot of effort, and requires knowing where to look inside of a company. It also requires the judgment that only comes from years of experience in the fields of brands, marketing, and IP commercialization, as well as a proprietary tool we have developed to manage and force rank all the inventory. The monetization piece requires the experience in IP licensing that we bring, as well as a deep network of connections throughout the ecosystem that can result in commercial partnerships. What good is knowing you have a great idea if you don’t find a way to convert it to value?

In addition to helping corporations go on offense with their idea inventory, PE&Co. can also help them ensure that their intangible assets are protected from external privateers, as a defensive measure.

Proof: As founder and President of the dormant trademark acquirer River West Brands, Paul Earle amassed IP mining experience second to none. Over an 8 year run, River West identified and unearthed hundreds of unutilized but valuable corporate IP assets. These efforts ultimately resulted in over 25 commercialization events, transforming once dormant assets into real value again. What’s more, as co-founder and Executive Director of Farmhouse, the innovation center at Leo Burnett, Earle gained real empathy—and an even deeper understanding—of the processes and protocols for R&D and concept development inside a corporation, learning firsthand about IP opportunities and potential at a number of Fortune 100 client sites.

Might you have a few Rembrandts in your attic? Or maybe Rembrandt himself? Let’s find out.

Contact paul@paulearle.com