DROPP - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Digital Marketing and Sales Support
Brad has over 30 years of experience in the IT industry, delivering systems for startups and Financial Services companies in the US and Europe. He has delivered solutions throughout the trading lifecycle, highly scalable web applications, and AI & Big Data solutions. His deep background has helped him deliver real blockchain solutions for enterprises, as well as helped startups create cutting-edge systems. Before co-founding OpenCrowd in 2005, he was a Managing Director at Scient, where he was part of the CTO council that led large technical teams delivering eBusiness systems for both enterprise and startup clients. Before joining Scient in 1999, Brad worked at Salomon Smith Barney, where he architected and built various front and middle office systems for Fixed Income, Equity, and Derivatives products. Prior to joining Salomon Brothers in 1993, Brad was a software engineer at Dynacs Engineering, a firm specializing in multi-body dynamics simulation and control systems design for the Aerospace industry.
Chris Formant has over 30 years of experience as a technology executive and early-stage investor/entrepreneur. He is currently CEO of Avocado Systems, a San Jose based application security company.
Previously he held various executive roles, as President of Verizon Enterprise, President of Avaya Global, CEO of Scient, EVP of MBNA and managing partner of PWC. He has been an active board member on both public and private technology company boards. Formant has been named one of the top 25 consultants in the world, 25 most influential technology executives and top 10 UCC executives. He is the author of Bright Midnight, a rock and roll murder mystery, and Saving Washington, a historical fiction. Formant serves on the board of trustees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Job Titles:
- Gabriella Mirabelli - BIO / Advisor
Gregg has served as one of HBO's top Executive Producers since 2000. He is currently in Production on White House Plumbers, a limited series for HBO starring Woody Harrelson. His other recent limited series include "I Know This Much is True" starring Mark Ruffalo, "Big Little Lies" seasons 1 and 2, starring Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, and "Sharp Objects starring Amy Adams. Gregg also served as Executive Producer of the smash hit drama series, "True Blood" which ran for seven successful seasons.
Gregg graduated in 1983 from UCLA with a Bachelor's degree in Economics, then immediately ventured into the film business and has been a successful producer in television and film ever since.
Among his other Television producing credits is the prestigious network series, "Twin Peaks," (the original one) for which he earned an Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe win for Best Series. He also produced "SeaQuest DSV" and the 2-hour TV movie "Class of 61" for Amblin Entertainment. For the past sixteen years, Gregg has been producing for HBO on many of their acclaimed series, including "Mind of The Married Man," "Carnivale," "Deadwood," "John From Cincinnati" and "True Blood."
On "Deadwood" Gregg began his directing career, earning an Emmy Nomination for the first episode he directed. He has also received multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his producing of both Deadwood and True Blood.
Gregg has also brought his production expertise to feature films. He developed and produced the critically acclaimed, Oscar Award winning (Best Adapted Screenplay) "Gods and Monsters." For that film he won the award for Best Picture at the Independent Spirit Awards and was nominated for both the Golden Globe and the Producer Guild award. His other film producing credits include "U2: Rattle and Hum", "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me" and "Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh."
Gregg also has an entrepreneurial spirit. In 2012, Gregg, out of his own necessity, invented the SAAS app and webservice known as CallPlease. That service, which organizes phone calls and communication between executives and their teams, is active today and widely used throughout the entertainment industry and other verticals.
John Penney is a Chief Strategy Officer, Business Development, and Strategic Partnerships Executive. His expertise includes developing new businesses, business model innovation, growth opportunities, subscription businesses, direct-to-consumer business models, product innovation, and content economics. He has held senior executive positions with 20th Century Fox, Starz, IMG, HBO, Scient, and Viacom. John helped launch and was Chairman of Starz Play Arabia, the largest subscription content service and a technology leader in the Middle East and North Africa. He serves on the Executive Board of the Consumer Technology Association, which stages CES, the annual innovation show in Las Vegas. He is also a Member of The Board of Advisors to the CEO of Lifebox, the only NGO devoted to safer surgery in low-resource countries. Before working in media, entertainment, and technology, John was an equity research analyst with Sanford Bernstein.
John holds a BA in Social Psychology from Wesleyan University and an MPA with a concentration in Science & Technology Policy from Columbia University. He is also credentialed as a Project Management Professional (PMPÒ) and holds a Medical Statistics certificate from Stanford University Medical School. John lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter.
John is a serial entrepreneur and industry change agent with over 24 years of entrepreneuria experience in growing and managing high technology product and services organizations in a global market. He is the current CEO of OpCenter and the President of the BuildCoin Foundation. John has started and led organizations at the precipice of market changing technologies including geographic information systems, electronic document management, the Internet and now blockchain.
OpCenter under John's leadership has taken a market leading position in bringing blockchain and cryptocurrency solutions in the construction and infrastructure markets. In 2017 John founded the BuildCoin Foundation in Zug, Switzerland. The BuildCoin Foundation is disrupting the multi-trillion dollar a year infrastructure market by changing the way infrastructure projects are originated, funded and executed using blockchain and cryptocurrency. The Foundation believes every human being deserves access to affordable and reliable infrastructure to reach their highest potential and to live their best life.
Prior to acquiring OpCenter, John was the CEO and Founder of Digital Paper Corporation. Digital Paper grew to become a market leader in the Internet document distribution market. Digital Paper received such accolades as Fortune magazine's Cool Companies-Hot Ideas and was ranked on the 2001 Deloitte & Touché Technology Fast 500. Digital Paper provided mission critical solutions to companies such as General Electric, Ford, Nissan, Lockheed Martin, and ABB.
John is also a founding member of the Silicon Valley Blockchain Society whose mission is to support the successful expansion and implementation of smart contract, distributed ledger and blockchain related technologies. He is also an advisor to the Construction Blockchain Consortium which was founded by the University College of London.
John is an accomplished triathlete and has participated and completed over 20 endurance events including three IronMan races and eight half IronMan races. He was recognized by the IronMan organization as an All World Athlete which is awarded to the top 10% of global IronMan athletes in their age group.
John is a frequent speaker at industry events on topics ranging from blockchain and cryptocurrency to entrepreneurship and has had the privilege of speaking in front of Congress on the use of digital currency.
John Penney - Chief Strategy Officer
Nilesh Nanavati brings 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, operating executive and a management consultant in the financial services and technology sectors. Currently, as the Managing Partner of Financial Technology Solutions ("FTS"), Nilesh has helped a number of entrepreneurs and venture portfolio companies with their business development, product/technology commercialization and digital transformation strategies to achieve growth or reinvent their business models. In addition, Nilesh has also assisted private investors with management buy-out teams evaluate investment transactions across a number of areas, including wealth management, capital markets, payments, accounting/tax, digital asset technologies and software-enabled professional services). He has also advised enterprises on their digital transformation strategies to drive operational efficiencies or launch new business models.
Prior to FTS, Nilesh was the President and COO of Advanced Financial Applications Inc. (AFA), a fintech software firm servicing investment managers, hedge funds and institutional investors. As COO, Nilesh worked with the lead shareholder to help reposition the company's product strategy, develop and execute a direct sales/channel partnership plan, build a management team and raise capital. His efforts help the business grow from a start-up to a growth business with 50+ clients and 25 channel partners. Nilesh served as the COO until the sale of AFA.
Job Titles:
- Founder
- Senior Technology Executive
Rajiv Sohal is a senior technology executive with over 20 years of experience managing and providing technical leadership for large software development initiatives. With OpenCrowd, Rajiv leverages his expertise across open source and enterprise technology stacks to architect solutions that help our clients innovate and create market-differentiating products. More recently, Rajiv has focused on real-world implementations of blockchain/distributed ledger technology for enterprise and startup clients.
Rajiv has served in leadership positions at multiple product and technology services companies, having covered finance, media, healthcare, and insurance during his career. Before joining OpenCrowd in 2006, Rajiv was with Seastar Labs, a computer vision technology company, where he successfully took multiple pioneering products to market for live video production and advanced video surveillance. Earlier in his career, Rajiv co-founded and served as the CTO of ConsumerLINK India, India's 1st multi-segment consumer information bureau. He was also a partner and CTO at ISHI Systems, a technology consulting firm servicing Fortune 500 clients in the New York area.
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Richard Re - BIO / Advisor
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Robert Flohr - BIO / Advisor
Mr Flohr, who has spent over 20 years based in London, continues to operate globally, and has served as a senior advisor and consultant to major banks, asset management firms, private investors and technology businesses. He has worked with the banks' boards and executive leadership, and consulted on issues related to corporate restructuring and integration, strategic planning and business growth, leadership and change management. Over the past 25 years, he has served as a major catalyst in some of the most significant transformations and growth stories in global banking.
Other experiences include assisting a European investment firm focused on wealth management in raising capital and improving the performance of a portfolio company, as well as guiding the restructuring of an important Middle East regional bank. He has also served on the Board of a European payments business and on the Board of a Bermuda bank holding company. Earlier in his career, he spent four years as an Assistant Dean of Admissions and academic advisor at Princeton University. He began his consulting career at McKinsey and Company and spent significant time in the executive search industry, during which he worked with Korn Ferry as the head of its Financial Services Practice in Europe. In that role, he held responsibility for coordinating global coverage and client service for investment banks and asset management firms. A graduate of Princeton University, Mr Flohr holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Psychology with a Certification in American Studies.
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Managing Partner at Highnote Ventures
Robert Howe is a Managing Partner at Highnote Ventures and is also the Chairman of Montgomery Goodwin Investments LLC, a private investment and consulting firm. At Montgomery Goodwin Investments, Mr. Howe has invested in a variety of information technology-based early-stage companies.
Prior to Montgomery Goodwin Investments, Mr. Howe served as Chairman of Scient Inc, a provider of integrated e-business strategy and technology services. He also served as Scient's Chief Executive Office from its founding in 1998 until 2002.
From 1991 until 1998 Mr. Howe worked for International Business Machines Corporation. His last assignment was as its General Manager of its global banking, financial, and securities business. Prior to that Mr. Howe founded the IBM Consulting Group.
From 1976 until 1991 Mr. Howe served in various consulting positions with Booz Allen Hamilton. He was a Senior Vice President for his last years, on the firm's board of directors for nine years, and the leader of the commercial systems and financial services practices at various points in his tenure.
Prior to that Mr. Howe served in a variety of information technology management positions. Mr. Howe has an MBA from Harvard University in 1968 and a BBA from SMU in 1966. Mr. Howe is a director of Symphony Services, an information technology services firm since July 2004. Bob is also on the Board of Globoforce, the leader in employee recognition software.
Shawn has over 35 years of experience in the IT industry, with a focus on Startups and Financial Services. He has successfully led groups by bringing together business, technology, and design skills to form creative solutions for diverse clients. Shawn's prior work includes managing the delivery of complex trading, search, business intelligence, and system integration solutions for leading Financial Services clients. Lately, Shawn has been focused on the Blockchain space, developing both core decentralized infrastructure platforms and business applications on decentralized platforms. Prior to joining OpenCrowd in 2005, Shawn spent the previous ten years consulting for leading Financial Services firms, having held senior positions at CXO Systems, Scient, and Cambridge Technology Partners. In 1995, while at Cambridge Technology Partners, he launched some of the earliest FIX implementations on Wall Street, integrating both Buy-Side and Sell-Side firms such as Merrill Lynch and Fidelity. Before Cambridge Technology Partners, Shawn spent over eight years at Nasdaq developing advanced technology solutions within their Compliance, StockWatch Surveillance, and Product Development Trading departments. In 1995, Shawn successfully launched the first Nasdaq.com site.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Chairman
- Technology Leader
Sushil has been a technology leader, innovator, and entrepreneur for the past 30 years. He has been the CEO of OpenCrowd for the past 16 years and is now the CEO of Dropp. As CEO of OpenCrowd, Sushil has continuously led the company to profitability, spending a significant part of his time consulting with clients on advanced technologies' benefits to help produce economic results.
Before co-founding OpenCrowd in 2005, Sushil was Head of Professional Services at CXO Systems, where he was responsible for managing client delivery in the Business Intelligence space. Before joining CXO Systems, Sushil was Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Scient Inc, starting in 1998 as part of the initial Management Team. In this role at Scient (now Razorfish), Sushil delivered enterprise e-Business solutions for many leading Financial Services companies worldwide. Sushil played a critical role in growing the company to over 2,000 employees in less than three years, growing to an 8-Billion-dollar market cap; this resulted in Scient becoming the fastest growing Internet Professional Services Company of the 1990s. Sushil was also responsible for architecting one of the earliest internet-based Peer-to-Peer payment systems for a top global retail bank. Before Scient, Sushil was Director of Technology for Cambridge Technology Partners (CTP), the most successful Client-Server, Fixed- Time, Fixed-Price Services company in the 1990s.
Sushil's client delivery includes Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, First Union, Wells Fargo, Credit Agricole, Development Bank of Singapore, SC Johnson, CIBC, and AXA.
Sushil received his Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering, Masters in Mechanical Engineering, and Masters in Computer Science.
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Chairman and CEO of Corestone Capital
Will McDonough is Chairman and CEO of Corestone Capital. As an investor and entrepreneur, Will's 20-year career ranges from sports management to global finance. Will has been working in blockchain since 2017 when he created the first-ever smart contract adjudication protocol for blockchain transactions. Prior to that, he led the $825mm IPO for Atlas Mara (ATMA:LSE), which he co-founded with former Barclays CEO, Bob Diamond buying banks across Africa. Prior to founding Atlas, Will and his team in the Investment Management Division of Goldman Sachs managed more than $17 billion in private capital of the firm's current and retired partners. Before that, he partnered with New York-based Avenue Capital Group to co-found a $250 million distressed debt fund of funds.
Since 2001, he has run his own highly successful management company now called AXS, where he has represented The Estate of Nelson Mandela, Quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady, ESPN host Tedy Bruschi, and supermodel/activist Gisele Bundchen. MMG also co-founded a children's entertainment company with Inspector Gadget creator Andy Heyward creating educational content for children through partnerships with Martha Stewart, Stan Lee and Arnold Schwarzenegger including a financial literacy cartoon with Warren Buffett called The Secret Millionaires Club.