The BlueFoot Family
"Once upon a time..."
It’s how so many stories start, especially for little girls.
Since this story starts with two little girls, we figured we would start our story the same way,
at the beginning.
When you hear their stories, it seems like fate they were meant to meet. They both got into the computer field in college and ended up in Washington, DC. They both went to work at the USPTO and law school in DC at the same time. And finally, they met afterwards at Pillsbury and became fast friends. They traveled an IP journey together, first at Pillsbury, then to HP and through a crazy corporate transaction to HPE.
They became better and better friends. Maybe even more importantly, they trusted each other as colleagues and talked endlessly of how they could improve things. One of those conversations, over a brunch on a rooftop in DC, led to a realization for both of them. They could improve things. They believed in themselves, in each other, and in their ability to execute on the vision they had. And they knew, from their shared experiences living IP from every perspective, their amazing and kind network, and their obsession to listen and learn, that they would make this work. It spurred them to take a leap of faith, and that’s how BlueFoot was born.
The name BlueFoot itself was its own kind of epiphany. It started from who Rachel and Ramya are. They both always strive to evolve and grow. Every experience is an opportunity to learn and better themselves. And, their main goal was to evolve corporate strategy, with better patent intelligence. So, when they thought about what they wanted to name their company, the Galapagos Islands came to mind. They couldn’t think of anything that embodied evolution better than that! And on the Galapagos Islands lived a quirky, happy, and curious bird called the BlueFooted Booby. Like their lives intertwining, this too was fate. Rachel came up with the name BlueFoot, and it was one of the easiest decisions they made.
And now, we would love for you to meet our BlueFoot family:
B.S. Systems Engineering,
University of Virginia
J.D., George Washington University Law School
Rachel Lee
CETO
Rachel’s favorite thing about BlueFoot is that, together with her BlueFoot family, they can transform their vision into reality. She LOVES BlueFoot’s thinking couch sessions and the experience of “building something out of our own intellectual curiosity.”
Rachel was born and raised in Seoul, Korea. When she was 14 years old, her parents moved the family to America. They had the courage and optimism to leave behind everything they built in Korea and come to the United States to start a new life. It fueled the drive in Rachel to always be open to new possibilities and have the courage to try new things.
Before devoting her time and focus to BlueFoot, Rachel was most recently in-house patent counsel at Hewlett Packard Enterprise and HP Company. Prior to that, she was a patent attorney at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman (where she and Ramya first met). Rachel also has experience as a Patent Examiner with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office; and before that as a software developer.
Fun fact: Rachel’s secret talent is that she’s a good cook – she can make delicious food fast and rarely fails. The latter is probably true of everything she does.
B.S. Computer Science,
Carnegie Mellon University
J.D., George Mason University School of Law
MBA, Georgetown University
Ramya Possett
CETO
Ramya’s favorite thing about BlueFoot is the culture they are building. She says, “It’s this beautiful balance where we empower our team to share ideas and be creative about solutions, but no one is tied to a specific way of doing things. It’s our core values coming to life in our culture.”
Ramya was born in Mysore, India, but grew up on the mean streets of Beavercreek, Ohio. As you can tell from her education, she loves school and would be a perpetual student if she could.
Before founding BlueFoot, Ramya was most recently in-house patent counsel at Hewlett Packard Enterprise and HP Company. Prior to that, she was a patent attorney at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman (where she and Rachel first met). She also has experience as a Patent Examiner at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and as a programmer for a defense contractor. Much of her educational and professional history mirrors Rachel’s, so it’s not surprising they both felt the pain points that made them found BlueFoot.
Fun Fact: Ramya loves to make people laugh. The BlueFoot team backs her aspirations to be a stand-up comedian.
M.S. Analytics,
Georgia State University
M.A. Economics,
Bharati Vidyapeeth
B.Tech. CS,
IIIT- Delhi
Mithil Gupta
Senior Data Scientist
Mithil's favorite thing about BlueFoot is the team's emphasis for trying out new ideas to keep improving the product and making it fun. He says, “At BlueFoot it’s about the Process before the Outcome and making human centered data products.”
Mithil received his masters in Data Science from Georgia State University and has an undergraduate degree in Computer Science. Prior to joining BlueFoot, he worked as a Data Scientist at the Coca-Cola Company in their Product R&D Team. Most recently, he worked for a leading data science consulting firm as a Senior Data Scientist across different industries including Automotive, Financial and MedTech.
Fun Fact: Mithil enjoys playing piano as a hobby and had he not become a Data Scientist, he would have gone to Vienna to study it.
B.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Carnegie Mellon University
Jacob Hoffman
Senior Software Engineer
Jacob's favorite thing about BlueFoot is how well-rounded everyone on the team is. He says "What amazes me about the people here is their strong communication skills, long term product vision, and scientific critical thinking skills."
Jacob received his bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to joining BlueFoot, he was a software developer in the defense space. He also previously worked on the Navy Aegis Weapon System, as well as on NLP search engines for the Pentagon.
Fun Fact: Jacob sometimes likes to design stuff as a hobby. Recently, he designed 3D toy bike chains that snap and unsnap together.
M.S. Software Development, Boston University
B.A. Contemplative Studies,
Brown University
Jillian Kupchella
Software Engineer
Jillian’s favorite thing about Bluefoot is the team’s adaptability and ability to think outside the box. Rather than confining themselves to the way things were in the past, she says “Bluefooters look toward the future and adapt their strategies based on anticipated market evolution.”
Jillian received her bachelor’s degree from Brown University and her master's in Software Development from Boston University. At BlueFoot, Jillian contributes to both the data science and development teams. Prior to joining BlueFoot, she worked as an associate consultant in the biopharmaceutical space, running analytics on pharmacy and medical data to improve upon market access strategies.
Fun Fact: Jillian loves to run, and she competed on Brown’s track and cross country teams. She has recently developed an interest in triathlons, completing her first half-ironman in the summer of 2023.
B.S.F.S. Global Business,
Minor in Spanish & Physics,
Georgetown University
Bobby Vogel
Lead Analyst
Bobby’s favorite thing about BlueFoot is the team’s commitment to innovation. He says, “BlueFoot is always seeking dynamic ways to create innovative strategy products.”
Starting out as an intern for BlueFoot, it quickly became evident that his feet were blue through and through. We just as swiftly made it official and brought him into our BlueFoot family.
At BlueFoot, he nimbly wears many hats, from coding our website to impressing us with his aptitude for creating digital magic, solving problems, and keeping his finger on the pulse of the latest trends in technology. Prior to joining the BlueFoot team, Bobby held internships at the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. House of Representatives.
Fun Fact: Bobby’s favorite food is ice cream. After spending six summers working at a homemade ice cream shop, Bobby remains well-versed in making ice cream.
B.S. Marketing,
Virginia Tech
M.S. Information Management,
Marymount University
Todd Fredrick
Advisor
Todd is a serial SaaS entrepreneur with multiple successful company exits. He brings his extensive expertise on enterprise software sales to BlueFoot. Todd is currently Chief Operating Officer of Cloudistics. Prior to Cloudistics, Todd was a Founder and COO at AppAssure Software (now Rapid Recovery), which was bought by Dell. Todd has helped numerous companies develop innovative data-driven sales & marketing programs that have enabled them to scale and obtain predictable revenue.
B.S. Chemistry,
Villanova University
J.D., The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law
Harry Gwinnell
Advisor
Harry is currently Of Counsel at Greenblum & Bernstein, P.L.C. Prior to joining Greenblum & Bernstein, Harry was Vice President of Intellectual Property at Cargill, where he built their IP department from managing less than 100 patents to a global patent powerhouse that not only managed thousands of patents worldwide but where intellectual property became an integral part of the business operations of the company. In addition to being a past Vice President of Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) and President of Association of Corporate Patent Counsel (ACPC), Harry is well-known for his seminal presentation on the IP Value Creation Journey and his contribution to “Einstein in the Boardroom Revisited.”
B.S. Chemistry,
Harding University
J.D., University of Arkansas at Fayetteville
M.S. Organic Chemistry,
The University of Alabama
Jon Wood
Advisor
Jon is currently the Director of Waldron Center of Entrepreneurship and Family Business, and has focused his career on the intersection of law, business, and technology. Jon's expertise and passion for innovation is clear, as he serves on the Boards for the National Inventor's Hall of Fame and the IPO Education Foundation. Jon has also served as the Executive Director of Innovation and Collaboration and as Chief IP Counsel for Bridgestone Americas, and as a Senior IP Counsel for Eastman Chemical. In addition, Jon has also taught as an adjunct professor at Case Western Reserve University, imparting wisdom related to Intellectual Property Business and Strategic Planning.
Core Values
Every company treats their
core values differently.
For BlueFoot, it was one of the first things Rachel and Ramya thought about when starting BlueFoot, and it fuels all aspects of BlueFoot, from our product development, processes, and hiring, to how we engage with our clients. It defines BlueFoot. We include our core values in every presentation, and we consider them with every decision we make. We hope they resonate with you as much as they do with us!
