Short Summary
I’m Andy Kozusko, and I’m a registered patent attorney with more than fifteen years of experience. As a young attorney, I had the honor of clerking for Judge Joseph W. Weis Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. I specialize in the pharmaceutical sciences. Kristin Kozusko is my spouse and business partner. She has known me since I was nineteen years old. She has a Masters in Library and Information Science, and she has worked as a law librarian for sixteen years. We also have a group of PhDs and patent attorneys in India with expertise in mechanical, electrical, chemical, pharmaceutical, software and other patents. In the future, we hope to hire one or more former patent examiners.
Our campaign will allow us: (1) to purchase the best, most secure information systems available; (2) subscribe to powerful databases; (3) to complete our initial marketing plan, which includes a website; (4) to obtain advice from corporate, professional responsibility, and international tax lawyers, and to formally establish our business based upon their advice; and (5) to buy equipment to do professional level video and photo production – both for marketing and additional crowdfunding as we scale. This business is the next epoch of our professional lives, and this campaign is critical to our ability to launch.
Your contributions will ensure that we make the most effective introductions to law firms, corporate legal departments, and universities in the Raleigh-Durham and Research Triangle Park areas. Additionally, you will allow us to explore two other familiar cities, Boston and Pittsburgh. We will have the infrastructure to begin differentiating ourselves from competitors.
What We Need & What You Get
We need $8,000 for two MacBook Pro laptops equipped with the fastest processors, maximum amount of RAM and solid-state storage. Our computers are over seven years old and simply cannot perform what we need them to do. We want the new computers to last a long time. We will also have company email addresses and the strongest security software and backup system available, since we are dealing with our clients' confidential information. We will also need subscriptions to Westlaw and IPLaw360, and potentially more, as well as certain books. We are in the process of obtaining quotes.
We will need $6000 for marketing, which includes our website, three months of marketing costs on Facebook, and traditional items such as business cards. We also anticipate needing $5,000 for legal fees from a corporate lawyer, a professional responsibility lawyer, and a tax lawyer. Finally, we need $3,000 to purchase the equipment and software to make a professional film, both for marketing and further anticipated rounds of funding on IGG. I tried my best, but all I had for this campaign film were my iPhone, a tripod and Kristin. We will use the additional $3,000 for insurance.
If we can hit our $25k goal, we’ll unlock IGG’s InDemand feature which will allow us to continue raising funds for additional subscriptions, books, travel costs to India for a launch meeting, and insurance…all very important. But its only possible if we hit our $25k goal.
We have unique perks that you'll love! For $50, you'll get a comfy logo polo shirt. We have a great read for our $100 donors: Where Good Ideas Come From - The Natural History of Innovation, by Steven Johnson. For $250, you get an exclusive photo of the clock in the Musee d'Orsay signed by the photographer, our very own Kristin. For $500, you get a collection of films about inventors or innovation. For $1,000, you get a 25% discount on the patent search of your choice. Additionally, you get your choice of our logo polo or the Steven Johnson book, Where Good Ideas Come From - The Natural History of Innovation. For $2,000, you get a 40% discount on the patent search of your choice plus our logo polo AND the Steven Johnson book, Where Good Ideas Come From - The Natural History of Innovation.
If we don't reach the goal, we will do our best to start the business with what we have. We will first need the legal advice described above to properly structure our entity (or entities). Next, we will need to purchase insurance and implement as much of our marketing plan as possible. Finally, if we are only able to buy one computer, then we will do so - or perhaps add the less expensive iPad Pro to our arsenal.
The Impact
By contributing to our campaign, you'll make a tangible difference to yourself and to the world. Our campaign will encourage innovation by small inventors, startups and growing companies. It is our hope that some of this innovation occurs in beneficial areas such as green building, energy, and transportation and life saving drugs. We hope to increase the approval of more affordable generic drugs by providing creative "freedom to operate" and "invalidity" searches to company lawyers. Andy has been very successful in this area over the past nine years. Finally, we want to help small inventors by offering a 10% discount to any IGG campaign.
Risks & Challenges
Our first challenge is to run a successful IGG campaign. We have spent months thinking about every detail. We wish we had the equipment to produce a professional quality video. We wanted to have a video, so we did the best with what we had - an iPhone, a tripod, and Kristin. Hopefully we will reach our goal and be able to acquire professional equipment for marketing and potential future crowdfunding rounds on Indiegogo ("IGG").
The other challenges that we face are client acquisition and competition from other intellectual property services firms. We plan to acquire clients: (1) through the notoriety we generate from this campaign; (2) by approaching our contacts, which number in the thousands; and (3) by attending and speaking at conferences and networking events. In terms of competitors, we believe that we can scale up this business because we have industry veterans and a global footprint that allows us to work around the clock. We also have a rigorous quality control process. Moreover, we have an incredible price point. Given these plans, procedures, and price points, we believe we can scale the business to flourish on the global stage.
Other Ways You Can Help
We understand that not everyone is in a financial position to donate. If you cannot donate, you can help us by spreading the word. Make some noise about the campaign! Please recommend our campaign to your social media contacts. You can also use the IGG share tools to drive the publicity about our campaign. If you have any questions, please ask.
- Ask folks to get the word out and make some noise about your campaign.
- Remind them to use the IGG share tools!
And that's all there is to it.