It's official!!!
David Drake is officially on our advisory board! Drake is a cryptocurrency man of steel ladies and gentleman. He has been in this game since before most of us were even using the internet on a daily basis.
David Drake LDJ Capital
David Drake is Founder and Chairman at LDJ Capital, a multi-family office which deals in worldwide funds accessing over $1.5 trillion in assets, and maintains over 50+ global directors and family office partners.
More recently, Mr. Drake is also seen as a leader in cryptocurrency. Mr. Drake saw the value of digital assets when everyone was avoiding it. It all started in 2011 when Mr. Drake collaborated on the JOBS Act to create new laws underlying all fundraising in the U.S. for all ICOs. He runs a $200M LDJ Cayman Fund focused on cryptocurrency, mining and ICO acquisitions. LDJ Capital Credit also offers middle market bridge financing to seed upcoming ICO’s. Previously he held a majority stake as a Managing Partner with Robert Hambrecht in an Alternative Energy Fund NewCommons Capital 2009-2010. David Drake is the Chairman of LDJ Capital, a multi-family office with holdings in Victoria Partners, a 500 family office network based in London; LDJ Real Estate Group; and The Soho Loft Media Group.
Mr. Drake has been involved in TMT (technology, media, telecoms), realty, hospitality, cleantech, energy and social impact investments for more than 20 years. He is an advocate of innovative investing in private equity, capital formation policies and developments globally, and the US JOBS Act which he lobbied for in the US Congress and the EU Commission. Because of his leading work in this space, he represented the US Commerce Department at the EU Commission in Brussels and Rome in 2012 and was invited to the White House Champions of Change ceremony in Washington, D.C. and as a speaker at the UK Parliament in 2013.
His investment, The Soho Loft Media Group, produces and sponsors over 200 global conferences annually and his articles are syndicated in over 100 publications. One such event was April 2013 for the institutional media leader Thomson Reuters, with speakers from Nasdaq, NYSE, KKR and Carlyle Group. He advances financial innovation through his work as an international speaker and writer. He has spoken in top universities like Cambridge, NYU, Cornell, Columbia, and writes regularly for major publications like WSJ, Forbes, Huffington Post, Thomson Reuters. He is the co-author of the books Planet Entrepreneur and is the author of the upcoming books The Crowdfunding Economy and LIFEE: Life Instructions for Entrepreneurs and Executives.
Previously, Mr. Drake has acted as general partner in fund-of-funds, realty funds, venture capital funds, seed funds and hedge funds. Mr. Drake’s holdings have media partnership with the European Business Angel Network, European Venture Philanthropy Association and Angel Capital Association of North America. He sits on 4 angel networks and has co-founded two angel networks.
Privately, Drake has hosted the Harvard Business Club of NY at his home, produced Carnegie Hall concerts and raised funds for the charities Trail Blazers and Best Buddies for many years. His years in the performing arts as a former board adviser to the Washington Ballet reached an apex March 2015 with a board director position at the New York City Opera
Born in Sweden and fluent in six languages, Mr. Drake has an MBA in Finance and an MA in International Law and Economics from George Washington University, where he was awarded the Wallenberg Scholarship for academic merit.
In my opinion, Mr. Drake is a beacon of success. He is the most well connected and motivated people I've ever met. He is truly on our board to help us succeed. I'd say we are lucky but actually, this partnership did not just land in our laps. My brother, Michael Martin saw David at the top of the "People of Blockchain" list along with several other influencers. We like to aim high. Out of all the top people on that list, Drake had, hands down, done the most for crypto on so many levels. I won't get into detail, but I will say that more than a few of the "top influencers" in the crypto space are selling their names and faces to anyone with enough ETH and is also willing to give up a large portion of their tokens. I am a little bit saddened by how many of these people that we are supposed to look to for guidance and unbiased opinion were willing to join our advisory board without knowing anything more than our names.
Some even responded to a simple introduction email with three page, pre-written sales pitch and contract. No thanks. We agreed from day one that we will not shill, be shilled, or support that crap in any way, shape, or form.
Needless to say, David stood out. When he replied to us I didn't believe it. Not only was he attentive, he was already making plans for us it seemed. I'm not saying that whole list over there at ICOB is bad. There are many, many reputable people of blockchain that are doing great things for crypto and giving their honest opinions on ICOs. The ones I'm talking about are high up the list but are few in comparisson. I won't name names but you know who you are. My advice, to the "shillers of blockchain", greed has toppled empires. You have enough money. Rediscover your crypto roots, the reason you became a pioneer. Be happy with what you've earned and stop selling yourselves to shit projects.
Thanks Drake, for keeping real all these years and not succumbing to greed. I know why you are always smiling. Because you are content.
