In this edition of Once Upon A Startup, I’m thrilled to introduce someone who has been transforming the way organizations think about intellectual property and innovation: Sam Zellner.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-zellner-ip

Sam’s journey is inspiring. He’s an IP strategist and innovation leader who has completely redefined how intellectual property can drive business success. Instead of treating IP as just a supporting function, Sam has positioned it as a key player in shaping strategies and achieving growth.

Through his work with InspireIP and PQAI, Sam is helping businesses unlock their full inventive potential. InspireIP (inspireip.com) is a game-changer—a user-friendly platform that makes capturing and managing ideas so much simpler. It helps teams streamline their invention processes and ensure innovations align with what the business truly needs.

Then there’s PQAI (projectpq.ai), an AI-powered prior art search engine that takes the guesswork—and a lot of the time-consuming effort—out of patent searches. It provides smart, precise results, making life so much easier for inventors and IP professionals alike.

Sam’s vision is clear: innovation should be accessible to everyone. He’s helping businesses capture more ideas, refine them, and turn them into assets that fuel growth and safeguard their futures.

I’m so excited to dive into Sam’s journey, the story behind these groundbreaking tools, and how they’re helping organizations embrace innovation like never before. Stay tuned—you’re about to meet someone who’s making waves in the world of IP and innovation!