Bio

Sean Collin is Founder and Managing Partner of Growth and M&A Partners. For more than three decades Mr. Collin has specialized in advising companies and individuals on maximizing revenue, asset value, and exit strategies from intellectual property and technology. He has represented Fortune 50 companies, Inc. 500 companies, financial institutions, public and private technology and brand focused companies, non-profit organizations, and countries around the world. Mr. Collin’s expertise is in assisting corporations to build corporate assets and strategically supporting and negotiating for them in realizing the greatest value in national and international mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Collin was born and raised in Silicon Valley California to a family that has been involved in innovation for generations. Mr. Collin founded his first consulting company while attending university, focused on trade and biotech innovation between Japan, New Zealand and the United States. After graduating from law school, Mr. Collin went to work for Mallesons in Australia, one of the largest international law firms in the Asia-Pacific. From there he was recruited to work for one of Washington, D.C.'s prominent international trade and intellectual property firms, Collier, Shannon & Scott. For several years Mr. Collin was based in their Asia Pacific Regional Office in Sydney, Australia, and then in Taipei, Taiwan, and Washington, D.C. While there he worked with and represented both the law firm and the consulting firm Georgetown Economic Services. He has worked, lived, and traveled extensively throughout Asia, Europe, and the world. Mr. Collin was featured in the May 6, 2002 issue of California Law Business as one of the top twenty lawyers under the age of 40 in the state of California in recognition of his legal work in the intellectual property and international fields. Mr. Collin was formerly Chair of the Information Technology & Media Group for the firm Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps and a Senior Partner heading up the Technology Transactions and Trademark Group at Pillsbury Winthrop in San Diego, California. He advised and assisted in the establishment of the San Diego office of Townsend, Townsend & Crew, the West Coast’s leading intellectual property boutique firm at that time, and was Of Counsel to Quinn IP Law, Michigan's leading intellectual property law boutique. Since 2007 he has also worked with IPWatch Systems Corporation group in various roles, to serve a broad spectrum of clients in technology development, AI and Big Data based software application design and implementation, and intellectual property management consulting in the United States, Asia, and Europe. Mr. Collin holds an economics and law degree (with Honors) from Otago University in New Zealand, and a Master's Degree (with Distinction) from Georgetown University Law Center in International and Comparative Law with his LLM Thesis on "The Harmonization of the World's Intellectual Property Laws". Mr. Collin has spent more than 13 years of his life working and living outside of the United States in numerous countries. He is admitted to practice law in three countries, handled legal matters in more than 70 countries, and has lectured internationally on mergers and acquisitions and intellectual property and technology law in more than 20 countries. In the last 4 years he has negotiated and documented 5 M&A transactions, 4 of which were based out of Europe, ranging in value from 27 million to 52 billion U.S. dollars in deal value. Mr. Collin has been a guest lecturer at the Wharton Business School, the University of Michigan Law School, The Graduate School of Public & International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in Germany, George Mason Law School, The University of California, National University, The University of San Diego, Vietronics College in Vietnam, The University of the Highlands & Islands in Scotland, Oglala Lakota College in South Dakota, The University of Alaska, Fairbanks and Anchorage campuses, Sinte Gleska College on Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, The Center for International Legal Studies in Salzburg, Austria, The United States Embassy in Vietnam, and Curtin Technology University in Australia. Sean Collin is a tenured Associate Professor at the University of North Alabama, and has taught for more than 12 years at their United States, Beijing & Suzhou China, and Taiwan campuses in International Business and Law, Entrepreneurship, International Mergers & Acquisitions, Ethics, Corporate Governance, and other related subjects. Mr. Collin has been a frequent speaker to national and international trade associations such as the ACC, INTA, the World IP Forum, at business groups, and at national and international legal and business seminars in the United States, Canada, Australia, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Mr. Collin was extensively involved internationally with the American Chamber of Commerce while resident in Australia. He has sat on the boards of a number of different companies in different countries. Mr. Collin has been Vice President, International for the San Diego Software Industry Council, Chairman of the International Trade Committee for Biocom, and was a member of the Board and International Public Policy Forum for the San Diego World Trade Center. He has also served on the Advisory Board of National University in California and the College of Business of The University of North Alabama. Mr. Collin has been involved in Human Rights and Indigenous causes for decades. He has been an accredited United Nations representative in New York, U.S.A. and Geneva, Switzerland for The Pacific Rim Institute for Development & Education, an international non-governmental organization that represented the interests of orphans around the world. He has sat on the board of The Adoption Center of Washington, an international adoption center. Mr. Collin has been Secretary and Director of Sacred Healing Circle, a New Mexico non-profit corporation that focuses on assisting Native American communities since 2006, and is also on the Board of the Natchez Trace Parkway Association in Tennessee. He holds service awards from the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia, the Adoption Center of Washington, the USO, the San Diego World Trade Center, The University of North Alabama, and Sacred Healing Circle. In 2018 he was recognized by the Black Hills Sioux Nation Council of the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe and the Paha Sapa Unity Alliance of the Oceti Sakowin, Great Sioux Nation, with their Service in Nation Building Award. In 2019 Sean succeeded to the Barony of Otterinverane in Argyll, Scotland. This Noble Title has been continuously held by his ancestors or extended family in the Highlands of Scotland since the 12th century. The Title is an Anglicized version of the ancient Gaelic Title "Oitir an Bharain". It translates as "the baron’s promontory", which is located on the eastern shore of Loch Finn, Cowal Peninsula, from where the Scottish Nation was born. Sean is honored to succeed to this Noble Title and the ceremonial responsibilities it entails, as well as to celebrate and promote Highland Scottish culture and history. He runs numerous programs through the Barony supporting Scottish scholarship programs and development in the Highlands. Sean is mainly of Celtic European, Native American, Jewish, Eastern European, and North African descent and actively supports and advises on diversity initiatives globally.