Who We Are — IPTalons, Inc.

OUR TEAM

Allen Phelps

Founder & CEO

Allen Phelps is a board-certified security professional who has focused his career on establishing Research Security Management Programs and Insider Threat Management Programs to safeguard intellectual property, research, trade secrets and other types of proprietary information assets from loss, theft, and misappropriation. He is currently the founder and CEO of IPTalons, Inc., a managed research security service provider focused on protecting research personnel and related innovation assets in the academic, corporate, and government sectors.

His corporate research security management work includes the establishment of a trade secret protection program at Merck & Co., a large innovative research-based pharmaceutical company, that has been cited as the best-in-class security program focused on protecting pharmaceutical trade secrets and building research compliance resiliency. Allen also served in a research security training role at the Texas A&M University System, and served almost two decades with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in various roles.

Michael Shannon

Executive Vice President – Government Solutions

Michael (Mike) Shannon is the Executive Vice President – Government Solutions for IPTalons. He retired from the Federal Senior Executive Service as the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of Management Assessment (OMA), within the Office of the Director NIH. As the chief risk, compliance, audit, and investigative officer for NIH, Mike built investigations, enterprise risk, and internal controls for the nearly 50 billion in research program funds NIH administers. He served on the charter senior advisory group and the executive committee for the formation and initiation of the FBI, National Counterintelligence Task Force.

Mike spent many years as a Deputy Inspector General for DoD and is a retired Counterintelligence Reserve Officer in the intelligence and policy directorates (J2/J5) Joint Chiefs of Staff. He has been a Senior Advisor on policy, intelligence collection, open-source analysis of foreign activity excelling at counter exploitation and countermeasure development. His task force memberships, global accomplishments, awards, and strategic impact on U.S. national security policy, administration and government affairs are numerous.

He is a self-described “Policy Nerd” having developed, written, and promulgated countless government and organizational policies on many controversial and sensitive topics. He holds a Master of Policy Management (MPM) from Georgetown University as well as a Master of Public Administration (MPA) and a certificate in Forensic Accounting. His undergraduate degree is in Communications and Psychology. Mike is currently completing his PhD in Public Administration.

Stefano Serafini

Stefano Serafini is the Chief Revenue Officer of IP Talons. Stefano is a former senior leader and manager with the US Government (USG) Executive Branch with nearly 25 years of service focused on national and international security and risk analysis. His experience includes tours and travel in the Near East, South Asia, North Africa, and Europe where he held extensive engagement with the US Intelligence Community (USIC) and US Military (USMIL), as well as with foreign partners on policy matters ranging from cybersecurity to political stability to counterterrorism. He also worked extensively on several Joint Terrorism Task Force squads domestically following the attacks of 9/11.

Following retirement from government service in 2020, Stefano set up his own consulting firm, focused on providing consulting services specialized in market intelligence, risk management, and business development in select overseas markets. His clientele ranged from elite USG/USMIL elements to corporate America.

Stefano holds a Masters in National Security Studies with a minor in Cybersecurity Strategy from the prestigious National Defense University’s Eisenhower School. He also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Physiology from the University of Southern California. He splits his time between the United States and Europe.

Chief Revenue Officer

Carl Taylor

Carl Taylor is the Vice President of Academic Engagement. Carl spent 30 years serving the United States as a Military Intelligence Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Army and as a civilian Special Agent / Intelligence Officer with the Department of Defense. Carl’s focus was counterintelligence, counterterrorism, and counterproliferation investigations and operations. As a military officer, he held investigative, operational, staff, and command positions. Carl’s civil service career included investigative, operational, and senior leadership positions, as well as three joint duty assignments within the U.S. Intelligence Community. Carl is a combat veteran and deployed outside the United States throughout his career to perform intelligence operations. He retired from the U.S. Government in 2015 as an Assistant Director of a U.S. Defense Agency.

After retiring, he was hired as the Chief Security Officer for the University of Kansas, which included developing and leading the Office of Global Operations & Security (GOS). GOS is responsible for security management, export compliance, the protection of research, and risk/threat identification university-wide. He also provided security program assistance to other academic institutions and the U.S. Government. Carl was also a co-Principal Investigator for KU’s U.S. Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence (ICCAE) Program, a Director of National Intelligence grant, and was on the Executive Board for the Association of University Research Security Professionals, formerly known as the Academic Security and Counter Exploitation Program (ASCE).

He graduated from Bridgewater State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Science, and the Senior Executive Fellow Program, at Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Vice President - Academic Engagement

Jeff Hinson

CFO & Board Member

Jeff Hinson is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Board Member of IPTalons, Inc. He is a former CFO of two NYSE-traded companies, Univision Communications and Hispanic Broadcasting. He has 17 years’ experience as a public company board member serving on as many as four public company boards. His roles have included being appointed as Board Chairman, Audit Committee Chair, and Governance Chair. He is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and a member of the Advisory Council on audit matters. He is experienced in dealing with compliance, enterprise risk, and security risk issues as well as intellectual property and IP licensing.

Jeff Hinson mentors start up and early-stage management teams, is an advisor and fund investor in Austin-based Ecliptic Capital, and a mentor at the Capital Factory. He is on the board of two venture backed start-up companies and an advisor to several other start-ups in music tech, multi-cultural podcasting, sports marketplace tech, consumer data and insights, and fin-tech.

Jeff Hinson received his BBA and MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.

Stan Woodward

Business Development, Board Member

Stan Woodward is the former CEO and Chairman of MVPindex, Inc., a social and digital sponsorship valuation platform for sports and entertainment brands, teams, leagues, properties, and influencers. Most recently, he seed-funded and was a co-founder of MyLifeIQ, a genomics health and wellness company that was sold to Recuro Health and Quantum Symphony Group, a cyber security consulting firm that focuses on solutions and best practices for small and medium sized businesses. Prior to joining MVPindex, Stan served as CEO of LTF, Inc., now part of The National Math and Science Initiative, which is a pre-AP and AP teacher training and courseware development company.

Stand Woodward is a seasoned entrepreneur, investor, and senior executive in technology startups and fast-growing companies such as Reflect, Yahoo!, broadcast.com, and Ascend that specialize in media creation, management, distribution, artificial intelligence, analytics and measurement, and content delivery. Stan has invested in over 70 early-stage ventures since 1995 and participated in several successful IPO’s, including broadcast.com and Ascend, that had a combined market valuation of nearly $30B at the time of their acquisition by Yahoo! and Lucent, respectively. Stan Woodward sits on the board of IPTalons and is a senior trustee for Austin College in Sherman, Texas. He received his B.S.E.E. from Oklahoma State University.

Kevin R. Gamache, PHD

Board Member

Dr. Kevin Gamache is Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief Research Security Officer for The Texas A&M University System. In this capacity, he is responsible for ensuring that the eleven universities and eight state agencies within the A&M System comply with U.S. Government requirements for protecting sensitive federal information. He is also the Associate Director of Texas A&M’s Global Cyber Research Institute. Dr. Gamache has earned the Industrial Security Professional designation. He has testified before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration, and the House Science Committee on this topic.

He served twenty-four years in the United States Air Force. His military career included a wide range of command, nuclear operations, maintenance, logistics, and counter-proliferation assignments in Wyoming, Montana, Texas, and Washington, D.C. His final Air Force assignment was as the 341st Maintenance Group Commander at Malmstrom AFB in Montana, where he retired with the rank of Colonel.

Dr. Gamache holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Water Management and Hydrological Science from Texas A&M University; a Master of Science (MS) in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Washington, DC; a Master of Science (MS) in Management, with a concentration in Management Information Systems from Lesley University, Cambridge Massachusetts; and a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Biology from Angelo State University, San Angelo, Texas. He also completed a Graduate Certificate in Information Strategy from the National Defense University in Washington, DC, and a Graduate Certificate in Homeland Security from the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.

Bill Davis

Bill Davis is the Chairman and CEO of the second-oldest business in Dallas, Dexter & Company, which is a Dallas-based property, casualty, and benefits insurance brokerage firm.

Davis is a graduate of Texas Christian University, where he earned his BBA in Finance. He also served as a First Lieutenant in the United States Army, and currently serves in the Individual Ready Reserve.

An active member of the Dallas community, Davis serves as a Board Member of the Ronald McDonald House of Dallas and participates in the Young President’s Organization, Chief Executive Round Table, and the Society of International Business Fellows, among many other organizations

Board Member

Phillip B. Philbin

Phillip B. Philbin is a seasoned trial lawyer with over thirty years of experience explaining complicated technology to judges and juries across the country. Phillip represents large technology companies and prolific inventors alike in highly technical cases. The combination of his engineering acumen with his presentation skills have resulted in trial wins from coast to coast explaining a myriad of technical disciplines (from heart surgery to virtual reality gaming). Attention to detail, strategic planning, and precise execution form the foundation of his practice.

Phillip is an entrepreneur as well. He has crafted innovative fee models for law firms; created and taught a hands-on patent litigation law school class; and implemented strategic investment strategies for law firms. Phillip uses his legal and technical knowledge with a touch of investment savvy to craft innovative methods to capitalize on intellectual property investments.