# Jordan Birnholtz

> Jordan Birnholtz is a serial founder turned intellectual-property litigator who keeps building at the seam between law, finance, and technology. He co-founded PawnGuru, a marketplace that brought 1.5M+ underbanked Americans online to pawn shops; helped progressives organize through The Tuesday Company's Team app; and as co-founder and CMO of Neon put the world's first NFT vending machine on a New York sidewalk. After earning his J.D. cum laude from Northwestern, he now practices IP litigation at Kirkland & Ellis while co-founding Trarian, a venture underwriting patent-invalidity risk across what he calls the trillion-dollar patent asset class.

- **Role:** IP Litigation Associate at Kirkland & Ellis; Co-Founder at Trarian
- **Organizations:** Trarian, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Neon (Bash.gg), PawnGuru, The Tuesday Company, Bitbox Ventures, Midtown, Paxton AI
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.A. in Economics & History, University of Michigan, M.S. in Information Science, University of Michigan, J.D., cum laude, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
- **Known for:** Co-founded PawnGuru, serving America's underbanked with 1.5M+ users and hundreds of pawn shops, Launched the world's first NFT vending machine / ATM in New York City as co-founder and CMO of Neon, Built The Tuesday Company's Team app, used by 100+ Democratic campaigns and progressive organizations in 2018

## Career timeline

- **2014** — Co-founded PawnGuru with Jonathan Polter and Jessica Zahnd, an online marketplace for pawn transactions
- **2015-2020** — Served as COO/CMO at PawnGuru, growing to 1.5M+ consumers and hundreds of pawn shops
- **2018** — Co-founded The Tuesday Company; its Team app served 100+ Democratic campaigns and progressive organizations
- **2019** — Made angel investment in Portal Spaces
- **2020-2022** — Co-founded and served as CMO of Neon, a Solana-based NFT marketplace (later Bash.gg)
- **2022** — Launched the world's first NFT vending machine in New York City's Financial District
- **2023-2024** — Worked as a Law Extern at legal-AI startup Paxton AI
- **2025** — Earned J.D. cum laude from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
- **2025** — Joined Kirkland & Ellis as an IP litigation associate in Chicago; co-founded Trarian with Michael Ulin

## Achievements

- Co-founded PawnGuru, serving America's underbanked with 1.5M+ users and hundreds of pawn shops
- Launched the world's first NFT vending machine / ATM in New York City as co-founder and CMO of Neon
- Built The Tuesday Company's Team app, used by 100+ Democratic campaigns and progressive organizations in 2018
- Co-authored 'True Threats, Public Safety, and Free Speech' in the Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology
- Earned a J.D. cum laude from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law

## Latest updates

- **2025-05** — Graduated J.D. cum laude from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
- **2025-06** — Practicing IP litigation at Kirkland & Ellis while co-founding Trarian to underwrite patent-invalidity risk

## Links

- Website: https://about.me/jordanbirnholtz
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/birnholtz/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/birnholtz

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jordan-birnholtz
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-08