Meet James Billmaier, 63. Yes, he’s no longer a “startup,” but Billmaier’s experiences should be very interesting to the starters, so we are delighted to get his wisdom.

 

Billmaier (left) and Charles Mirho are the co-founders of Seattle-based TurboPatent Corporation. Billmaier is the CEO and Mirho is General Counsel. Billmaier lives in Woodinville, Washington. TurboPatent is based in Seattle. Website: www.turbopatent.com.

Billmaier has presented at CodeX “several years ago.”

 

Education: I graduated with a B.A., (Liberal Studies) at Santa Clara University in 1977.

Past significant jobs: Vice President/General Manager: Sun Microsystems Networking Division. Chief executive officer, Digeo Corporation (founded with Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen) in 2000 CEO. Melodeo was sold to Hewlett Packard in 2010).

 

 

 

What problem does TurboPatent solve? It is a software company that provides artificial intelligence (AI) software and tech enabled services to transform the current process into a better, faster, cheaper experience for inventive companies. Our technology and services is used by more than 200 startups and more than 40 law firms.

TurboPatent offers its “Invention Hub” product for free to small and medium-sized business. Our tech enabled patenting services are typically 50 percent to 60 percent cheaper than traditional law firms. TurboPatent AI tools are licensed by more than 40 law firms and corporations and are licensed on a low cost subscription basis commensurate with the size of the organization.

How did you come up with the name? TurboPatent is a take off of TurboTax, taking a complicated task and making it a much better experience. 

Do you have any patents? We have 22 patents and pending applications. We continue to file one to two patents applications each quarter.

What inspired you to pursue this startup? We all have had experience with the patent process “either” as an inventor or a patent professional. It was universally agreed by all who work at TurboPatent that the current system suck — we wanted to make it much better — especially for the earlier stage companies that struggle to protect their good work. We were originally bootstrapped and funded by the founders. We have since taken investment from venture capitalists and strategic partners.

What is your biggest work challenge:  Managing growth.

What have you learned that you wish you knew five years ago? Selling to law firms is very very difficult. We wasted a lot of time and energy trying to convince partners to change their practices to embrace technology.

Who most influenced you? I was very fortunate early in my career to have a boss/mentor who has become a lifetime friend and confidant. His name is Joe DiNucci.  I worked for him at the Palo Alto Research Facility of then Digital Equipment Corporation. Joe, 76, was and remains a brilliant communicator and a high energy advocate for positive change.

 

What two people are your most important mentors? In addition to Joe DiNucci, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen (right) recruited me out of Sun MicroSystems and up to Seattle in 1995. We did two companies together from 1995-2006. Paul afforded me many opportunities and experiences that were highly impactful to my life.

 

 

What advice do you give entrepreneurs? A CEO can make only one fatal mistake —running out of capital. That said, taking outside money will always change the dynamic of your company. 

What book changed your life?  One that stands out: John Naisbitt’s “Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives,” written in 1982.

 What are you afraid of?  Letting down those who have followed me and worked so hard to build a company.

What are you most proud of?  My books: JOLT! The Impending Dominance of the Electric Car;   Inventioneering” and “The 30-Minute Patent MBA”.

Where do you expect to be in 10 years? Still working — tried retirement and failed miserably.

What does your workspace look like? (Borrowed from Sam Gosling.)  We have a wood floor flat, open workspace in an old brick building that was originally the Globe Newspaper in Pioneer Square, Seattle. It has two conference rooms, a fully stocked bar and kegerator.

What’s your favorite vacation destination? I am not big on vacation travel — I’ve done too much travel over the past 30 years. My wife Michelle Billmaier and I love to do local outings in the Pacific Northwest.

Favorite musician or group: I ran a music company (Melodeo),  but I seldom listen to music. I was the w

eird kid in high school listening to National Public Radio (NPR). 

 

 

Favorite food:  Pizza. How can you do 30+ years of software and not love pizza.

 

Favorite quote: The founder and CEO of Sun MicroSystems, Scott McNealy used to say, “Eat lunch or be lunch”. It meant that if your company did not constantly disrupt, you would be disrupted.

Who would you want sitting next to you if you got stuck for three hours on the tarmac in a 737?   J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter. 🙂

 

 

 

 

Monica Bay is a Fellow at CodeX: The Stanford Center Center for Legal Informatics, and a freelance journalist. She is a member of the California Bar. Email: mbay@codex.stanford.edu. Twitter: @MonicaBay. 

Photos
• James Billmaier and Paul Allen: Wikipedia
• Pizza, and cover: Clipart.com.