The Business of Emerging Technology

Our aim is to discuss the business and legal aspects of starting and running small, early-stage technology companies.  From start-up issues and management strategies to handling intellectual property and go/no-go licensing valuations, we’ll try to cover a wide range of intriguing and informative topics.

The Ghannoum Law Firm LLC

Visit us at www.GhannoumLaw.com to find out more about how we may be able to assist you with your legal issues.

Afif M. Ghannoum, Esq.

A biotechnology attorney, Afif spent the first years of his career with two of the largest firms in the country. After leaving the world of Big Law behind to launch an emerging technology development firm (BioVentis LLC), he was frustrated at how inefficient and costly outside counsel was for companies both large and small.

With this in mind, he founded the Ghannoum Law Firm with the singular goal of offering world-class legal counsel, sophisticated enough to serve the largest clients, while still being accessible to early stage companies. Afif represents corporate, biotechnology and life science clients in an array of matters.

An entrepreneur himself, Afif and his innovative approach to the law have been profiled by various media outlets, including theAmerican Bar Association Journal. He is also a co-founder of two biotechnology companies.

In his free time, Afif takes pride in the pro bono work he has done through the Legal Aid Brief Advice Clinics, where attorneys can volunteer legal advice and guidance to those not able to afford representation. He is also heavily involved with MedWish International, an organization that sends medical equipment that can no longer be used in the United States, to health organizations in third world countries. He also teaches at Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

You can also follow afif on Twitter at www.twitter.com/afif_ghannoum

Brett A. Hoover, M.Sci.
Currently Brett is a Product Manager with the Clinical Tissue Engineering Center (CTEC) and a  Commercialization and New Ventures Officer with the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine (AFIRM) at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH.  In this role, he also works closely with the National Center for Regenerative Medicine and the Cleveland Cord Blood Center.

At the Ghannoum Law Firm, Brett is the Chief Operations and Finance Officer.  Additionally, Brett is a managing partner and co-founder at BioVentis LLC, and a co-founder of  Survian Technologies LLC, a start-up firm in the Wind Energy Industry.

In the past, Brett was a cell and molecular biologist at Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute, and a marketing strategist and blood drive coordinator for the Northern Ohio chapter of the American Red Cross.

His interests include early-stage technology assessment, valuation, and commercialization,  the creation of new ventures, market analysis, business plan / model development, innovation-based grant writing, and entrepreneurial finance.  He also has a passion for facilitating collaborations and partnerships between commercial and basic research entities in order to start new companies and enable sustainable job growth.  His formal training is in Cell and Molecular Biology (as it pertains to Stem Cells, Regenerative Medicine, and Tissue Engineering) and Entrepreneurial Strategy.

In his spare time, Brett works with smaller not-for-profits, helping them develop business plans, financial projections, investors pitches and fund-raising strategies.  Brett also enjoys working on his historic home in Shaker Heights, OH with his wife Cassandra.

Check out Brett on:  —– Twitter —– LinkedIn —–