Brian Kinard received his J.D. from Harvard Law School and his B.S. and M.S. in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University where he was awarded the Bolton Award (most outstanding graduating electrical engineer).

Prior to law school, Brian spent several years working as an electrical/photonics engineer at Rockwell International and Alcatel, where he designed and implemented the latest technology in optical communications.

As an outside advisor and in-house employee, Brian has represented numerous high-growth companies (as both CFO and CLO) from inception, through growth stage, and until final acquisition or IPO.  Brian’s passion is leveraging his experience and acumen to accelerate a company’s valuation and liquidity.

Brian is active in the business and startup communities. He currently is an Adjunct Professor at Baylor University Law School, where he teaches venture capital and securities regulation.

Raised in east Texas, Brian is an avid Texas Rangers and Dallas Cowboys fan. Although he enjoys spending time at Texas Live with his wife, Gwen, they spend most of their sports time at home with their neighbors and friends.

Select Representations:

• General Counsel and CFO to numerous high-growth companies
• Has led numerous IPOs and acquisitions each ranging from $10M to over $20B
• Has led over 500 early-stage through late-stage equity or convertible debt rounds ranging from $100k to $200M
• Worked as an attorney for several years at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, which is the premier startup law firm in Silicon Valley, California
• As CFO and General Counsel at Virdia, Inc., Brian closed on a $33M financing and negotiated a joint venture among Virdia, the government of Malaysia and a billion-dollar Korean chemical company.  Also at Virdia, Brian negotiated and closed on an incentive package with the State of Louisiana for Virdia’s first factory, and he led the acquisition of Virdia by Stora Enso AB, which is a 28,000-employee biochemical company in Sweden and Brazil

Fun Facts:

• Brian grew up working on his family’s cotton and hay farm.  Although he loves mathematics and engineering, he became an electrical engineer primarily because he wanted an air-conditioned job.  Only people who have bailed and hauled hay during the summer in Texas will appreciate this.
• Brian’s undergraduate roommate and law school friend are famous in the Dallas area and Texas.  Ask him who they are.
• Brian desperately wants to be a Formula 1 racecar driver, but we think that ship has sailed.