Most of a modern company's value is intangible, and most of it is invisible. For technology companies, the majority of enterprise value is not equipment or inventory. It is inventions, trade secrets, proprietary processes, data, and brand. But value that is not documented cannot be counted. When a valuation firm, investor, or acquirer looks at an undocumented company, they see risk, and risk gets discounted.
Proof: A $50MM Valuation
Lexigent conducted an IP discovery engagement for CISO Global, a cybersecurity company. Through structured interviews with the technical team, we identified and documented the company's trade secrets, patentable assets, and trademarks in a comprehensive report, and delivered a playbook for protecting those trade secrets going forward. The company used that documentation with a valuation firm to support a $50MM valuation.
The assets existed before the audit. The documentation is what made them count.
How the Audit Increases Value
1. Documentation converts invisible value into countable value. An IP Asset Register turns "we have secret sauce" into a schedule of identified, owned, protected assets that a valuation professional can credit.
2. Protection converts countable value into durable value. An asset anyone can walk out the door with is worth less than one under protocol. Trade secret playbooks, assignments, and filings tell a buyer that the value survives founders leaving, employees defecting, and competitors copying.
3. In diligence, gaps are leverage, for the other side. Every unassigned invention, unprotected secret, and unregistered mark found during diligence becomes a price reduction, an escrow holdback, or a dead deal. Finding them first, on your own timeline, is worth multiples of what the audit costs.
The Method
Every engagement follows a five-phase process refined in real transactions:
- Discovery. Structured interviews with your technical team, founders, and product leadership.
- Inventory. Every intangible asset classified: trade secrets, patentable inventions, trademarks, copyrights, proprietary data, and know-how.
- Assessment. What is protected versus exposed, ownership gaps, and risk ranking.
- Valuation Support. The asset register packaged so a valuation firm, investor, or acquirer can credit it.
- Protection. A prioritized roadmap plus trade secret protocols your team can actually follow.
You walk away with three deliverables: the IP Asset Register, the Valuation-Ready IP Report, and the Trade Secret Protection Playbook.
Engagement Levels
Focused Audit. One business unit or an early-stage company. A targeted inventory and protection roadmap.
Standard Audit. The whole company, typically before a raise. Full register, gap analysis, and playbook.
Transaction-Grade Audit. Pre-M&A or pre-exit. Valuation-firm-ready documentation, built for diligence.
All engagements are quoted as fixed fees before work begins.
Starting a Company? Build the Foundation First
The companies that get the best valuations are not the ones that scramble to document their IP before the raise. They are the ones that built the system on day one. The IP Foundation Plan puts the structure in place at formation:
- Founder, employee, and contractor IP assignments from day one, the single most common diligence killer, pre-solved
- An IP Asset Register started at formation and updated as the company invents
- Trade secret protocols in place before there are secrets to leak
- A filing strategy calendar tied to product and funding milestones
- An annual register refresh so the documentation is always raise-ready
When your Series A diligence starts, you point to the register. It has been running since incorporation.
Who This Is For
Companies preparing to raise, sell, or be acquired. Investors who want their portfolio companies documented and protected. R&D-driven companies that know they innovate but have never inventoried it. And founders who want to start deal-ready instead of getting there the expensive way.
Not Ready to Talk Yet?
Start with the free Hidden IP Assets Checklist: more than 40 intangible assets companies routinely miss, plus the ten exposure checks diligence teams will run. Fifteen minutes with it will tell you whether you have a documentation gap.
Start the Conversation
The first consultation is free and confidential. We will discuss your situation, scope the right engagement level, and provide a fixed-fee quote before any work begins. Schedule a consultation.