Don Friedman, CBDA

Chief Executive Officer @ Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals

About

Over the span of my 24 year career of educating financial advisors and institutions on emerging asset classes and investment vehicles by creating and producing finance-related conferences, webinars and roadshows, I'm fortunate to have played an important role in 3 successful liquidity events.I sold JV Events Group to Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals and its founder Ric Edelman. The crown jewel of that transaction was our Digital Assets Strategy Summit (DASS - the premier "allocators only" event in the digital assets space). Prior to that, I was the COO of ETF.com and co-founder of their Events division (the crown jewel being Inside ETFs - the world's largest ETF conference). In 2015/2016, ETF.com sold the company in 3 separate transactions - Analytics (to FactSet), Events (to Informa) and Media (to BATS) with the Events business transaction leading the way in valuation. And for the first 5 years of my Events career, I worked my way up to managing director of the Alternatives Group (the crown jewel was the Alternative Investment Roundup - AIR) at Strategic Research Institute (SRI). With my group being responsible for 40% of the company's revenues, we played a vital part in the valuation and ultimate sale of the company to ALM.Having learned every facet of the events business from the ground up (starting as a temp worker), I've lived the phrase "you've got to roll your sleeves up to get the job done".I've produced content, invited speakers and managed their logistics, sold sponsorships and acted as the sponsor liaison leading up to the conference. I've spearheaded marketing/branding, participated in telemarketing campaigns, booked hotels, hired and managed a staff, sourced vendors, all contract negotiations, created conference websites, came up with new conference topics, managed a conference budget and created P & L forecasts.Having had the foresight to see and successfully execute on the opportunities in both the Alternatives and ETFs space, I'm hopeful to accomplish the trifecta now in the digital assets space.

Country

United States

City

Alpharetta

Industry

Publishing

Skill

Marketing Strategy, Product Development, Email Marketing, Marketing Communications, Indexing, Start-ups, Digital Marketing, ETFs, Business Development, Entrepreneurship, Operating Budgets, Conference Production, Product Marketing, Phone Manner, Management, Contract Negotiation, Public Speaking, New Business Development, Sponsorship Sales, Hedge Funds

Experience

Chief Executive Officer

Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals

2024-12 - Present · 1 yr 10 mos

President

Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals

2020-7 - 2024-12 · 4 yrs 6 mos

Alpharetta, GA

CONNECTING THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND DIGITAL ASSETS COMMUNITIES The Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals was founded by Ric Edelman, one of the investment advisory industry’s most prominent thought leaders and founder of the largest independent financial planning and investment firm in the country. Spearheaded by its Certificate in Blockchain and Digital Assets program, DACFP is dedicated to advancing the awareness, knowledge and understanding of blockchain and digital assets by financial professionals so they can give their clients the advice they need about this new and transformational asset class. Thanks to DACFP’s leadership, financial professionals can connect with regulators and academia to learn about blockchain and digital assets and be introduced to innovators that offer products and services that can help advisors provide timely and relevant advice to their clients. DACFP’s leadership also has 21 years of experience producing world-class finance events bringing together leading fund managers, advisors and service providers to provide educational, sales, marketing and networking opportunities through conferences, webinars and keynote presentations.

Chief Executive Officer

The Truth About Your Future with Ric Edelman

2024-12 - Present · 1 yr 10 mos

Founder

Digital Asset Strategy Summit (DASS)

2017-10 - 2020-6 · 2 yrs 9 mos

Dallas/Fort Worth Area

www.DigitalAssetStrategySummit.com BUILDING A BRIDGE FOR INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS TO EMBRACE THE CRYPTO + BLOCKCHAIN PARADIGM Designed specifically for investment professionals and accredited investors, the Digital Asset Strategy Summit (DASS) focuses on addressing the opportunities and challenges of today’s market and presenting a variety of innovative disciplines and portfolio construction ideas designed for today’s forward thinking money managers. DASS is produced by one of the original co-creators of Inside ETFs and in collaboration with one of the co-founders of the Lendit Conference as well as the RIA Digital Assets Council (RIADAC). Our 2019 event was chaired by Ric Edelman who is the Founder of Edelman Financial Engines, the largest independent RIA with $200 billion in AUM and ranked #1 for quality in 2018 by Barron’s.

Founder & CEO

Joint Venture Events Group

2014-4 - 2020-6 · 6 yrs 3 mos

Greater Atlanta Area

PARTNERSHIPS THAT DELIVER RESULTS Drawing from 25 years of investing in the equity markets and 18 years of producing world-class events, Joint Venture Group partners with leading fund managers, advisors, institutional investors and service providers to provide educational, sales, marketing and networking opportunities through the following mediums: - Asset class-based conferences - Consulting - Roadshows - Webinars - Online advertising and thought leadership pieces