In this concise 7‑minute interview, Professor Pete Alexander hosts Devin Miller, an entrepreneur who has built multiple 7‑ and 8‑figure businesses and now runs Miller IP Law, a firm that helps startups secure patents and trademarks. Miller shares a light‑hearted observation that many founders overstate the world‑changing impact of their ideas, noting that most inventions are modest or novelty‑focused. He advises companies to focus on the fundamentals—reading “chapter 1” of any business guide—so they grasp the most critical concepts first. A major theme is the strategic use of automation: Miller recommends automating repetitive tasks to free human staff for high‑touch customer interactions, warning against both over‑automation (which erodes service) and under‑automation (which wastes time). He suggests two guests for future episodes—personal‑finance guru Dave Ramsey and Dr. Jacqueline Darna, whose wrist‑band product addresses motion‑related ailments. Miller recounts his first job at a laser‑engraving company, a repetitive role that in hindsight could have been automated, reinforcing his automation viewpoint. The episode closes with Miller’s contact information: strategymeeting.com for scheduling calls and lawwithmiller.com for details about his IP law services.
Chapters
This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1. In a few sentences, please tell me who you are and what you do. Yeah.
So I'm Devin Miller. I am an entrepreneur, startup, or done several startups, 7 and 8-figure businesses as as well as the founder and CEO of Miller IP Law, where we focus on helping startups and small businesses with patents and trademarks.
Well, Devin, it's a pleasure to have you on the show. Question number 2, what is something that makes you laugh or smile about working in your industry?
Yeah, laughing, I probably a weird one, but laughing in the sense that I have people all the time that say, walk into my office, I got the world's best business, it's going to change the world. And then they tell me how a little minute thing that really has no impact on the world and maybe a great business, But I always have to laugh when everybody thinks their idea will change the world, when most of it is just going to be a small impact or just a fun little gadget.
Yeah, I can only imagine in your line of business all the interesting things you've heard and people thinking that it's better than, you know, the next sliced bread or something.
Usually when they start with that, I'm like, I start to be skeptical in the sense that, you know, if you really thought it's going to change the world, you don't need to tell people, they'll obviously get it. So I'm like, If you start out that way, it's kind of flag number one.
Exactly. I totally get it. Question number 3: I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business. What chapter would you think most companies should read?
Um, I'd say most companies should read chapter 1 because they usually don't get all the way through the whole book. So if they're gonna at least read one chapter, it should be the first one because hopefully the most important information is there.
Yeah, and it sets the stage for everything else. So I totally agree with you. Question number 4: other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude, and care for customers, what advice or insight would you give to other business leaders?
Yeah, one of the ones that kind of comes to mind is, um, automation, in the sense that in order to free up your time, you need to look at the things that you're doing on a repetitive basis, you're doing over and over, and then how you can either offload those if you can automate them, offload to somebody else, but otherwise, look to see if you can't automate those. So you can't make it a little bit more streamlined. And it typically automation, you said, oh, that sounds horrible, because now I'm gonna get on the phone number, and we're gonna have to dial 20 different pounds in order to get somebody that's just going to transfer me anyway. But I look at it as just the opposite of when you're able to automate it, when you're able to offload, when places you don't need human touch, it frees it up to have human touch to be able to better interact and provide that better service.
I think that's really insightful because you're right, you know, the automation has these negative connotations, but the key, as you said, if it can free up the humans to have the interactions with other humans so that the people feel like they're doing business with other humans, that's, that's like the sweet spot. Am I right?
Yeah, that's exactly— I found that if you over-automate and automate everything, there's no customer service, no human touch, nobody likes it. If you're trying to do it on the opposite end of doing everything yourself, you never have enough time to get everything done. So if you can free Free up the time where you need to have that human touch. Don't need the— or automate the places where you don't need the human touch. That's the sweet spot.
Very insightful. Thank you. Question number 5: What other business leader like yourself would you like to acknowledge and invite to be on my podcast?
Well, I'll give you two. One is, if I could acknowledge, but I don't think he'll ever come on your podcast, I'm a huge Dave Ramsey follower, so I love to have Dave Ramsey. He has a lot of both personal finance, but also a lot of, I think, good business advice and being successful. So if I were to be able to invite him, I'd invite him on. I don't know that he's probably busy enough. I don't know if you'll be able to get him. The other one is Dr. Jacqueline Darna. She was actually a guest on our podcast and she's just an awesome, she has an awesome product. She's just enthusiastic, loves what she does and has a great message. So she has a product that's a wristband that helps you with motion or with morning sickness and with headaches and with a few other things, which is just really cool. Another cool person.
Oh, very nice. And I spent most of my career in the medical device industry, so I'm looking forward to talking to her and I will reach out to Dave Ramsey. Let's see what happens. I appreciate the suggestion. And our final question, question number 6, please tell me about your first job.
Yeah. So my first job was in high school. I was working at, it was a laser company and doesn't, it sounds cooler than it was. It was really just a laser engraving where you put a piece or a part into it it engraved on it. You take it out, put the next one in, line it up, push the button, take it out. And so it was a super repetitive job. It paid well. I liked the boss and we had a good environment. So that was my first job. So it wasn't anything exciting, but that was the first job I had.
Well, and you said, uh, very repetitive. Sounds like automation could have been used there, right?
That's right. If I could just go back 20 years ago or so, whatnot, then automate it, then I would have been out of a job. It would have been better for the business.
Oh my goodness, progress technology. So, Devin, thank you so much for being on the show. How can people find you?
Yeah, so I'll give a couple of ways if people want to reach out. So I do intellectual property, primarily patents, trademarks, and a few other business-related things. They want to grab some time with me to chat. They want to get on my calendar and just ask any questions they have. They can go to strategymeeting.com, easy way to connect up with me. If they want to just find out more about my law firm and what I do, they can go to lawwithmiller.com. So strategymeeting.com to grab some time with me, find out a little bit more about the law firm, lawwithmiller.com.
Perfect. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Thanks for listening.
