Byron Keats

Byron Keats’ life has been a fairy tale. Born in Bremerton to a military family, Keats had a lot of time to himself as a child while his parents were serving the country. His father was stationed in many places throughout the world, piquing young Byron’s interest in international affairs, which remains to this day.

One of his earliest memories is playing with a chemistry set he received for his fourth birthday. His favorite experiment at that time involved combining baking soda with vinegar, transforming the plebian substances into a frothing volcano of foamy delight.

Keats combined his interest in world affairs and fascination with chemistry during his Peace Corps service, where he was assigned to a desalination project in Atlantis. “We were surrounded by seawater, and my job was to make it potable to make the place livable again and reestablish its native populations.” Unfortunately, Keats’ group was unable to return Atlantis to its former splendor during his Peace Corps term. It did get Keats thinking, though, about other uses for seawater. “After all, most of the planet is covered with it.”

Keats’ passion for doing something useful with seawater coincided with the technology boom at the turn of the last century. Keats returned to Bremerton, where he built a plant to extract gold from seawater for use in microchips. This venture was also Keats’ first brush with the law. “I needed to learn all about land use, the Shoreline Management Act, patents, and trade secret law in order to protect my investment in this sensitive technology,” Keats explained.

The venture proved to be successful beyond imagination, as the characteristics of gold extracted from seawater proved to be perfect for use in nanotechnology. “The long exposure to sea water made the gold more conductive.” Keats explained. Its proximity to Seattle’s nascent technology market also helped the company. “We kept a low profile publicly in order to protect our trade secrets, but developed solid relationships with local biotechnology and nanotechnology ventures throughout the Puget Sound area,” said Keats. At the height of the technology boom, Keats sold the company for $80 billion. In order to preserve its trade secrets, however, the transaction was privately financed, and Keats and the purchasers kept a low profile.

During the years that the gold extraction technology was in development, Keats worked a unique deal with his corporate counsel. In addition to his regular legal duties, Darcy Figment, who became in-house counsel when the company first formed, agreed to mentor Keats in clerking to the Bar. For those of you not familiar with the process, under APR 6, an individual can become an attorney and be eligible to sit for the Washington state bar by studying under the guidance of an attorney who has been licensed to practice for at least ten years. The program is a lot of work for both the mentor and the person clerking to the Bar, as there are set courses that must be completed and monthly reporting to the Bar Association. Additionally, individuals must be accepted into the program by the Bar and meet the educational and other qualifications for the program.

Keats found the contract, torts and property portions of his studies to be the easiest, as they dovetailed with his daily work in the company. One drawback of clerking to the Bar, Keats noted, is the lack of an opportunity for public speaking. Keats overcame this drawback by participating in Toastmasters and speaking to high school students as a guest lecturer about his Peace Corps experience.

“Keats was a facile learner,” Figment noted. “Even though he was spending eighty hours a week on company business, he was still able to hit the books nightly and master his assignments. He was a great role model for diligence and determination for everyone in the company.”

After selling the company, Keats took some time off to decide what to do next with his life. Initially, he considered purchasing a sports franchise. “I’ve always been fascinated by lacrosse, and puzzled by the lack of a world-class lacrosse league in the United States.” Keats engaged in initial discussions with several cities, but the feasibility studies showed a lack of grass root support for professional-level lacrosse. “It would have taken twenty years of youth leagues and promotional activities to build the level of interest needed to support a league at the professional level.” Keats observed. “I had to step back and think,” Ôis this really how I want to spend twenty years of my life?’”

While contemplating his next venture, Keats and his wife, Sparkle, took a trip to Elbonia. There, they became fascinated with the local rumors about the healing powers of Elbonian mud. “They soak in it for everything, from rheumatism to tuberculosis.” Keats observed. Keats was not totally unfamiliar with the concept of the healing powers of natural resources, as he had made trips to Sol Duc’s pools as a child, and had also soaked in the healing waters of Soap Lake. The Elbonian mud, however, was rumored to have given greater healing powers that remained unknown to the world due to Elbonia’s remoteness.

Keats shipped a container load of Elbonian mud back to Seattle and set up a small, secret facility to analyze it. Keats, drawing on his legal experience and work at his previous business, was able to obtain a patent for an anti-bacterial extracted from Elbonian mud. His discovery has been a boom to the economy to Elbonia, where he is involved in managing sustained growth in a “green” process to be sure that environmentally sound practices are followed in the extraction and processing of the Elbonian mud.

Keats’ successes with two technology companies has led to his current venture, Sparkle Gondolier, a non-profit that provides legal advice to biotechnology startups around the world, with a focus on countries that are trying to find markets and technology that provide an in-country value-added process to locally available resources. “Extracting gold from sea water and anti-bacterials from mud is only the beginning,” Keats said, “It is my goal to use my legal and technology skills to provide economic and educational growth opportunities to communities around the world.”

So far, most of Sparkle Gondolier’s ventures are in the early stages. Keats understands the need for each community to be self-driven in developing the technology best suited to its culture and capabilities. With the financial resources available to him, he is in the work for the long haul, rather than for short-term gain.

Keats also sees a need for a technology-based law school curriculum to support the ventures he is promoting. Currently, Keats is fulfilling this need through internships at Sparkle Gondo-lier, both for law students enrolled in a traditional law school curriculum and for employees who wish to clerk to the Bar through APR 6. “We have the perfect opportunity here to foster the legal and technology skills for the next generation of attorneys. Sparkle Gondolier is advancing the sophistication of lawyers involved in technology by providing a unique hands-on experience, both in the United States and through travel internships to the communities it supports around the world.”

Sparkle Gondolier encourages other technologies in its own legal staff and its interns as well. “All of our people are bloggers, and we have found that the blogs provide a glimpse into how Sparkle Gondolier works on a day-to-day basis to implement its philosophy and goals. The blogs serve as a valuable recruiting tool and a great way to share non-privileged, non-confidential information.” They also may attract a new generation to Sparkle Gondolier that otherwise would not have considered a career in technology law because they either were unaware of it being an option, or because they thought it was too staid and buttoned-down for their tastes.

Sparkle Gondolier’s offices promote this image as well. Located in an industrial-looking building on Lake Union, the interior is a combination of creativity and quiet efficiency. Art from the communities Sparkle Gondolier supports is showcased in its lobby and conference rooms, which are also equipped with the latest video technology to encourage impromptu meetings involving people in its offices around the world. Keats and Sparkle, like Sparkle Gondoliers’ other employees, each have a combination office/lab to encourage creativity, and there is a small museum next to the lunchroom with artifacts from Keats’ Peace Corps experiences that also highlights inventions and successes of other Sparkle Gondelier’s employees and donors.

Keats feels blessed with his successes, and with the benefits that his work has brought to communities around the world. “Sometimes, I just can’t believe it’s real,” he said.