Founder, Free Vector Law Group PC (Licensed in WA, TX, and CA)
Founder, Free Vector Consulting LLC (Business Advisory Services)

Bert Sugayan is an accomplished business executive and lawyer with extensive legal and business experience in the technology, media, and professional service industries.  Mr. Sugayan assists clients on a wide variety of business and legal matters, including business formation, business law and governance, international transactions, intellectual property licensing, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic partnerships, and pre-exit and strategic business planning and advisory services, and acts as outside general counsel for many of his clients.

Mr. Sugayan’s experience includes senior executive management positions in strategy and business development with leading media and technology companies, including Corbis, Getty Images, and ARIS Corporation.  As Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Corbis, Mr. Sugayan had global responsibility for that company’s mobile, film, consumer, and rights services businesses, and had similar responsibilities as VP of Right Services at Getty Images. Mr. Sugayan also served as President and CEO of Oxford Computer Group (North America), where he helped launch that company’s North American operations and developed a partnership with Microsoft that led to Oxford being named Microsoft Partner of the Year in 2008.

Mr. Sugayan also served as General Counsel for both Corbis and ARIS Corporation, where he oversaw the legal aspects of those companies’ day-to-day legal affairs, including merger and acquisition strategies, and ARIS’s successful IPO.  He has served as an attorney with law firms both in the U.S. and abroad, focusing on business law and governance, international transactions, intellectual property licensing, mergers and acquisitions, and joint ventures and strategic partnerships.

Mr. Sugayan was a founding board advisor and instructor for the Business Development Certificate Program at the University of Washington.  Mr. Sugayan has published several articles and authored the chapter for “Graphic and Pictorial Works” in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Guide on the Licensing of Copyright and Related Rights (2004).

Mr. Sugayan is a member of the California, Washington, and Texas Bar Associations.

Mr. Sugayan holds a B.A. in economics and English literature from University of Michigan, a J.D. from Notre Dame Law School, and an LLM in corporate law from New York University Law School.

“[Bert’s] business acumen and creativity made a major contribution to Corbis.  I enjoyed all our work together.”
– Corbis and Microsoft Founder, Bill Gates

Principal, Free Vector Law Group PC (Licensed in WA, CA, MT)

Daren Nitz has over 30 years’ experience representing entrepreneurs, private companies, and venture investors in private equity, debt, and convertible securities offerings in emerging and established businesses. Mr. Nitz assists clients on a wide variety of corporate matters, including venture formation, equity and debt financing, corporate governance and planning, strategic alliances, and mergers and acquisitions, as well as acting as outside general counsel.  In addition to his private practice, he is the Global Head of Legal and Compliance at GrapeSEED Inc, an international educational services business based in Sendai, Japan.

Mr. Nitz has been named as a “Rising Star” and “Super Lawyer” in Washington Law & Politics Magazine and was listed as a “Top Venture Capital Lawyer” by Washington CEO Magazine. Mr. Nitz was named upon the top 100 Clean Tech lawyers, worldwide, by Legal Media Group – Euromoney.  He has consistently been awarded an “AV Preeminent 5.0 out of 5” Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating and has had a 10.0 (out of 10.0) AVVO Rating since that rating system has existed.

He is the past chair of the Executive Committee of the Business Law Section of the Washington State Bar Association, as well as a past member of the Corporate Act Revision Committee of the Washington State Bar Association.  Mr. Nitz is a past member of the Board of Advisors of the Shidler Center for Law, Commerce & Technology at the University of Washington, and the University’s Center for Technology Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Law Clinic. Mr. Nitz developed and taught “Representing Technology Start-Ups” at the University of Washington School of Law, and speaks at law schools, business schools and angel investor forums on general business topics, including venture capital, corporate formation, and mergers and acquisitions.

Mr. Nitz is a member of the California (inactive), Montana, and Washington Bar Associations.

Mr. Nitz holds a B.S. in economics, MBA in corporate financing, and MS in econometrics from Arizona State University, and a J.D. from University of Southern California Gould School of Law.

Attorney, Free Vector Law Group PC (Licensed WA and CA)

Jonathan Wright is an accomplished business operator and attorney with over 25 years of experience, including as a Board Member, Founder and CEO of a technology enabled health services company, and a C-level legal and compliance executive of highly technical software, healthcare, renewable resource, and NASDAQ-listed biotechnology companies.

Over the course of his career, Mr. Wright has served as CEO and Founder of Opya, EVP – General Counsel of Kosan Biosciences (acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb), General Counsel of Targeted Genetics (acquired by AmpliPhi Biosciences Corporation), General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Ultura, General Counsel of Dexterra (acquired by Antenna Software), General Counsel of WideVine Technologies (acquired by Google) and Corbis Corporation (acquired by VCG) as its Corporate Counsel during its efforts to transform to digital product delivery and consolidate the stock photography industry. Mr. Wright has been an integral part of teams that have raised billions of dollars of investment capital in public and private markets.

In addition, he invested in early-stage companies as a member at the Sand Hill Angels Fund for 7 years. He also served on the BIO General Counsel Committee for four years. Mr. Wright regularly speaks at industry and governmental conferences, including on panels before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on capital raising.  Mr. Wright has been named as a “Rising Star” and “Super Lawyer” in Washington Law & Politics Magazine.

Mr. Wright is a member of the Washington Bar Association and the State Bar of California.

With experience as an entrepreneur and in-house counsel, as well as a former attorney at Heller Ehrman in their life sciences and corporate finance group, he brings a wealth of expertise. He has advised entrepreneurs, companies, underwriters, and investors on equity, debt, and convertible offerings for both startups and established businesses. His legal support extends to business formations, financings, mergers, and acquisitions, offering clear and reliable guidance throughout these processes.

Mr. Wright holds a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law and a B.A. in geography from the University of Washington.

Founder and CEO, EG Business Metrics, Inc.
Of Counsel, Free Vector Law Group PC (Licensed in WA)

Brian Golob spent 19 years as the Global General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Russell Investments, a global investment firm. Prior to becoming Russell’s Global General Counsel and CCO, Brian served executive roles in Russell’s Japan business, U.S institutional business and global “Implementation Services” business to launch and grow Russell’s complex “multi-asset” products, which involved overseeing 200 independent sub-advisers. Prior to joining Russell Investments, Mr. Golob worked as an attorney in the corporate finance group with Bogle & Gates in Seattle, Washington.

Currently Mr. Golob is the Founder and CEO of EG Business Metrics, Inc. With headquarters in Tacoma, Washington, EG Business Metrics assists in the managing and monitoring of investment funds’ organizational health through its ORCA^tm proprietary data analytics platform.

The evaluation of employee buy-in, corporate culture, controls and business model can be crucial components toward potential failure events. The ORCA^tm business platform’s objective risk analytics enhances investment research and operational due diligence by signaling risks often overlooked by fund managers.

Mr. Golob holds a J.D. from New York University Law School and a B.A. from the University of Washington.