Monetizing Your Firm’s Hidden IP with AI, with Mike Blake, High Score Strategies (The Price and Value Journey, Episode 124)
In this episode of The Price and Value Journey, host John Ray welcomes back Mike Blake, CEO of High Score Strategies, to explore the untapped potential of intellectual property (IP) for professional services firms. The discussion centers on the significant value that firms often overlook in their accumulated data and institutional knowledge. Mike explains the importance of structured data and how firms can monetize it through consulting services, thought leadership, and even AI-driven insights. The conversation delves into practical steps for firms of all sizes to start leveraging their data, the potential impediments, and the broader implications for firm valuation and exit strategy. Whether an accounting firm, law firm, or any other professional practice, Mike offers actionable advice to transform data into a valuable, saleable asset.
The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by the North Fulton affiliate of Business RadioX®.
Mike Blake, High Score Strategies
Mike is the CEO of High Score Strategies (HSS), a consultancy devoted to guiding clients to understand the value of their businesses and intangible assets for acquisition, investing, capital raising, disposition, and succession planning.
Investors and owners rely on Mike’s “information over validation” advisory approach, understanding that the questions he asks unearth hard but crucial answers that support their next transformative step or business stage.
Mike’s background spans 20+ years in valuation and 8 years in venture capital and investment banking. Before founding HSS, he served as Managing Partner with Brady Ware Arpeggio, Director of Valuation Services with Aprio (formerly Habif, Arogeti, & Wynne), and Managing Director with Adams Capital.
He is also a Special Lecturer at Georgia Tech, where he teaches graduate students about the valuation of emerging technologies and intellectual property, with a focus on Monte Carlo simulations and real options theory.
Mike founded and ran Startup Lounge, a nonprofit in Atlanta that helped connect hundreds of investors and startups over a decade. He currently serves on the board of the BVIUK (Business Valuation Institute UK).
He has coached six teams to victory in business plan competitions, leading to over $300,000 in cash prizes and nearly $2 million in services—including an entrepreneur who secured funding through ABC’s Shark Tank.
A highly engaging and deeply knowledgeable speaker, Mike has delivered 100+ presentations on a range of topics, including startup valuation, business appraisal, risk management, intellectual property, and emerging tech valuation.
He holds an MBA from Georgetown University and a BA from Franklin & Marshall.
Mike is multilingual, speaking fluently in English, Ukrainian, Russian, and French, and is conversant in Portuguese, German, and Spanish.
He currently lives with his family in Caldas Da Rainha, Portugal, about an hour outside of Lisbon.
Website | Mike’s LinkedIn | Firm LinkedIn | YouTube | Facebook
Topics Discussed in this Episode
00:00 Introduction and Recap
00:50 Reintroducing Mike Blake, High Score Strategies
02:40 The Value of Intellectual Property in Professional Services
04:09 Monetizing Data and Information in Professional Services
10:46 Leveraging AI for Data Analysis
14:33 Challenges and Opportunities in Data Utilization
27:09 The Cost of a Conservative Mindset in Accounting
28:41 The Overwhelming Task of Data and Information Management
29:18 Leveraging AI for Competitive Advantage
32:22 Challenges and Solutions for Small Firms
40:06 Creating Value Through Structured Data
48:39 Prioritizing Data Management in Your Firm
52:19 Conclusion and Contact Information
23:19 Guidance for Business Owners
28:40 Success Stories and Impact
30:49 Conclusion and Contact Information
About The Price and Value Journey
The title of this show describes the journey all professional service providers are on: building a services practice by seeking to convince the world of the value you offer, helping clients achieve the outcomes they desire, and trying to do all that at pricing that reflects the value you deliver.
If you feel like you’re working too hard for too little money in your solo or small firm practice, this show is for you. Even if you’re reasonably happy with your practice, you’ll hear ways to improve both your bottom line and the mindset you bring to your business.
The show is hosted and produced by John Ray and North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®. The show can also be found on all the major podcast apps. The complete show archive is here.
John Ray, Host of The Price and Value Journey
John Ray is the host of The Price and Value Journey.
John owns Ray Business Advisors, a business advisory practice. John’s services include business coaching and advisory work, as well as advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their pricing. John is passionate about the power of pricing for business owners, as changing pricing is the fastest way to change the profitability of a business. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, consultants, coaches, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.
In his other business, John is a podcast show host, strategist, and the owner of North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®. John and his team work with B2B professionals to create and conduct their podcast using The Generosity Mindset® Method: building and deepening relationships in a non-salesy way that translates into revenue for their business.
John is also the host of North Fulton Business Radio. With over 850 shows and having featured over 1,300 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in its region like no one else.
John’s book, The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices
John is the #1 national best-selling author of The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices.
If you are a professional services provider, your goal is to do transformative work for clients you love working with and get paid commensurate with the value you deliver to those clients. While negative mindsets can inhibit your growth, adopting a different mindset, The Generosity Mindset™, can replace those self-limiting beliefs. The Generosity Mindset enables you to diagnose and communicate the value you deliver to clients and, in turn, more effectively price to receive a portion of that value.
Whether you’re a consultant, coach, marketing or branding professional, business advisor, attorney, CPA, or work in virtually any other professional services discipline, your content and technical expertise are not proprietary. What’s unique, though, is your experience and how you synthesize and deliver your knowledge. What’s special is your demeanor or the way you deal with your best-fit clients. What’s invaluable is how you deliver great value by guiding people through massive changes in their personal lives and in their businesses that bring them to a place they never thought possible.
The combination of all these elements is quite different for you compared to any other service provider in your industry. Therein lies your value, but it’s not the value you see. It’s the value your best-fit customers see in you.
If pricing your value feels uncomfortable or unfamiliar to you, this book will teach you why putting a price on the value your clients perceive and identify serves both them and you, and you’ll learn the factors involved in getting your price right.
The book is available at all major physical and online book retailers worldwide. Follow this link for further details.
Steve Zylstra serves as president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council, a role he assumed in 2007. He is responsible for strategy, operations, finance and policy development. Zylstra is a vocal spokesman for the value technology can provide in raising social and economic standards in Arizona.
Karen Nowicki is a successful author, speaker and the creator of Deep Impact Leadership™ and SoulMarks Coaching™. She is a two-time recipient of the prestigious national Choice Award® for her book and personal development retreat. Karen was crowned the first-ever “Mompreneur of the Year” Award in 2010 for the southwestern states. She was recognized for her leadership, business acumen, and work-life balance.
Leslie Cooper Marquez is a dynamic marketing professional with over 17 years of broad-based marketing, public relations and advertising experience in both in-house and agency environments.
Scott Phelan has over 20 years of financial advising and planning experience. As Executive Vice President/Wealth Management, Financial Advisor, his focus is helping build wealth for high net worth individuals and corporate clients. His core competencies include estate, retirement, insurance and income tax planning strategies. Scott has a long and distinguished career in the financial services industry having held leadership positions at Edward Jones, The Hartford, and New England Financial. Most recently, he was a Senior Vice President, Wealth Management, Financial Advisor/Senior Portfolio Management Director at Morgan Stanley. Scott began his career at the New England Financial Group where he developed and implemented employee 401(k) programs.
Kevin’s philosophy is simple; he worries about your finances so you don’t have to. As a Certified Financial PlannerTM (CFP®) Professional, Kevin helps clients develop and implement a comprehensive financial plan that is tailored to your needs. Kevin specializes in portfolio management, ensuring that each of his clients’ unique needs are being taken into account. Kevin has over 10 years of experience in the financial services industry and previously served as a consultant. He attended the University of Georgia where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Personal Financial Planning.
