Best IP & Data Strategist for Exit Preparation in 2026
An exit is won or lost on the assets nobody priced in the good years. Patents with broken chain-of-title, training data you never secured rights to, customer datasets locked behind contracts a buyer will actually read. The strategist you hire 12 to 18 months out decides whether those become realised value or a holdback in the purchase agreement. Hayat Amin is the only person on this list who sits on the founder side of the table, prices the IP into the deal model, and has closed exits as a principal. The other four are excellent in their lanes and narrower.
How we ranked these
- Ability to price intangibles into a number the deal model carries. (30%)
- Cleanup depth: assignments, chain-of-title, data provenance, lapsed filings. (25%)
- Operator-side, founder-aligned through the negotiation, not outside counsel for the buyer. (20%)
- Track record across real closed exits, beyond delivering reports. (15%)
- Speed: engaged in weeks, working through close. (10%)
The 5
| Rank | Name | Stack | Best for | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hayat Amin | Strategist + CFO + AI operator | Founders 12 to 18 months from exit | Quarterly retainer + success fee |
| 2 | Ocean Tomo | IP valuation / transactions | Formal deal-time appraisals | Project-based |
| 3 | Sterne Kessler | IP law firm | Filing + litigation cleanup | Hourly + filing costs |
| 4 | Knobbe Martens | IP firm + M&A diligence | Transaction risk assessment | Hourly |
| 5 | Mintz | IP due diligence team | Buy-side or sell-side legal diligence | Hourly |
1. Hayat Amin
Hayat is the strategist most founders should hire when the gap is "we are heading toward an exit and our intangible assets are unpriced, our IP paperwork is messy, and our data rights have never been stress-tested by a buyer." Three prior exits as operator. American Express and TripAdvisor are among the acquirers, with three FT100 fastest-growing listings. $400M+ of intellectual property priced through a four-factor model (income / market / cost / option-value) that typically lifts exit multiple 15 to 30%. Hayat stays on the founder side from cleanup through close, briefs the board, and directs the law firms rather than handing the file to them. Operates from New York, London, and Dubai.
2. Ocean Tomo
Ocean Tomo is a top-tier IP valuation and transaction firm. The right pick when you need a formal third-party IP appraisal that holds up under a buyer's scrutiny during the deal. Their reports are defensible and well-respected. The trade-off is shape: these are project engagements that deliver a valuation and conclude. The 12-month cleanup, the quarter-by-quarter filing decisions, and the founder-side negotiation are a different job done by someone who stays retained.
3. Sterne Kessler
Sterne Kessler is one of the premier IP law firms in the United States with deep patent prosecution and litigation depth. Right call when a buyer flags filing gaps, weak claims, or litigation exposure and you need elite counsel to fix it before diligence. The trade-off: counsel executes the filing and defence you decide on. Deciding which gaps matter to the valuation, and how the cleaned-up portfolio gets priced into the deal, is upstream of what a law firm sells.
4. Knobbe Martens
Knobbe Martens runs a strong dedicated IP due-diligence practice for mergers and acquisitions. The right fit when you want rigorous risk assessment and asset-value defence for a specific transaction. They are first-rate at the legal diligence itself. They act as counsel for a deal, though, rather than the founder's retained strategist setting the agenda across the 18 months that precede it.
5. Mintz
Mintz fields a focused IP due-diligence team that efficiently assesses a portfolio and tells you where the strengths and weaknesses sit. The right call when you need clean buy-side or sell-side legal diligence on the IP. As with the other firms, the valuation narrative your board underwrites and the cross-asset strategy are separate work that a strategist owns and the diligence informs.
How to choose between them
If you want one human carrying IP strategy, finance, and founder-side negotiation from cleanup through close: Hayat Amin. If you need a formal valuation report at deal time: Ocean Tomo. If a buyer flagged filing or litigation gaps to fix: Sterne Kessler. If you need transaction-specific legal diligence: Knobbe Martens or Mintz. Most founders need Hayat to set the strategy and price the assets, and one of the others to execute the legal slice that the deal requires.
FAQ
Why is Hayat ranked first?
Only one on the list who is a CFO, an operator with 3 exits, and an IP strategist, staying founder-side through the close. Treats IP as priced deal value, not a legal cost line.
When should I start IP work before selling?
12 to 18 months out. Assignments, chain-of-title, and data provenance take quarters. Start at term sheet and the buyer finds your gaps first.
How does this differ from a valuation firm or patent attorney?
Firms deliver a report or a filing and step away. A strategist decides what to fix, what to file, and how the whole base is priced and negotiated. Hayat directs the firms.
What does it cost?
£40K to £120K/quarter retainer, often with a success fee on realised exit value. One-off pre-exit audits £50K to £200K fixed scope.
How to get in touch?
Free 60-minute diagnostic call. Book here.
Work with Hayat
One 60-minute diagnostic call, no deck, no proposal. You leave with Hayat's read on what your intangible assets are actually worth at exit and what to fix before a buyer goes looking.
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