Bennett Collen 鈥�11: From BC to blockchain and back
Meet Bennett Collen 鈥�11, entrepreneur, founder and CEO of CM听and, starting this fall, adjunct faculty teaching a brand-new course on blockchain technology. How did this double major in environmental geosciences and communication become a blockchain expert? And what does this have to do with democratizing trademark protection? Read on.
It all started, as most educations do, around the dinner table. Bennett was just a kid when he earned what he calls his 鈥渦nofficial JD鈥� in trademark law while passing veggies to his parents, intellectual property attorneys Jess Collen '79 and Jane Collen '79. Dozens of after-school office visits and two unrelated bachelor鈥檚 degrees later, he joined their law firm and began to develop the concept behind Cognate.
鈥淢y dad and I started identifying a need for helping small businesses protect trademarks,鈥� Bennett said. 鈥淓very business has a name, slogan, product names. It could be a one-person consultancy, a small e-commerce store, or a food truck. Their trademarks are their most valuable assets. But how can you protect the trademark rights of companies with unregistered trademarks?鈥�
Therein lay the rub鈥攁nd the opportunity. To enforce and protect its trademark rights, a company has to prove when, where, and how its trademarks are being used. That鈥檚 a time-consuming and expensive proposition for small businesses that can鈥檛 afford to hire lawyers to protect their IP. Bennett and his dad saw that need and started a service that lets small businesses upload information on the use of their trademarks.
There was just one problem, Bennett said: 鈥淲hat happens if I鈥檓 uploading vital info and you go away tomorrow? Will I still be able to access it?鈥�
Democratizing trademark protection with blockchain
That鈥檚 when blockchain entered the picture. 鈥淲e were looking at ways we could secure data, and we [thought of] blockchain,鈥� Bennett said.
He had been reading 鈥渆verything I could get my hands on鈥� about the distributed ledger technology, Bennett said. 鈥淚 fully immersed myself in the blockchain ecosystem to understand how we could take advantage of the technology to provide the service to customers.鈥�
Then the Collens attended a lecture at MIT that removed any doubt. Bennett came away convinced that 鈥渂lockchain just really elegantly answered the need,鈥� he said.
Using blockchain technology, they built an online platform that allows any business to create time-stamped, immutable records of trademark use and to affordably protect their trademarks. Customers who sign up for this Common Law Trademark Registry can use its 鈥淐M鈥� certification mark to put potential infringers on notice.
Blockchain helped Bennett and his dad realize the full potential of their idea and their goal of democratizing trademark protection, and it wasn鈥檛 long before Cognate took off.
From BC to GoDaddy鈥�
In September 2018, Cognate was acquired by GoDaddy, just five years since inception. Why GoDaddy?
鈥淕oDaddy hosts 18 million small business customers,鈥� Bennett said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e really good at providing services to help small businesses simplify how they run their business.鈥�
Bennett and his dad did a pitch and a small pilot, which went well and led to 鈥渢alking about coming in-house.鈥�
They had a new and compelling service that was a value-add for GoDaddy and an accelerant for Cognate. It was the perfect fit鈥攁nd a win-win. As a GoDaddy product, Cognate can keep existing customers and acquire new ones.
鈥nd back
This past spring, Bennett came back to campus to judge the 2019 Strakosch Venture Competition. During his visit, he talked with Jere Doyle '87 and a few students running a crypto club. He found out there were no blockchain courses and offered to teach one.
To gauge demand, he taught a pilot course with Professor Gerald Kane. Based on the success of the pilot, he鈥檒l be teaching BC鈥檚 first blockchain course in the fall.
鈥淚鈥檓 very excited to be teaching that class,鈥� Bennett said. 鈥淏C is very special to me. I met all my best friends there. Both my parents and two sisters [Jocelyn Collen '12 and Abigail Collen '15] went there. I still love going back there for football games.鈥�
Almost a decade after he graduated, Bennett says, 鈥渢he culture has changed significantly since I was at BC. Facebook was new then, and Google wasn鈥檛 cool yet. Now the zeitgeist around startups is more well-known鈥攁nd there are so many resources at BC.鈥�
Back then, Bennett never thought about starting a company, even though he鈥檇 grown up watching his parents build their own law practice. Now he knows better. 鈥淪tarting your own business is a viable path,鈥� he said.
It鈥檚 still too soon to know where this alum will go next, but Bennett hints that he鈥檇 鈥渓ove to start another company and take it further along in the lifecycle.
鈥淐ognate was an early exit,鈥� he said. 鈥淲ho knows? Maybe the next one will have a big enough payoff that I can buy the Red Sox.鈥�
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