MEDIA APPEARANCES
Videos From Dave
In the past, I've been interviewed or spoken about a variety of topics including technology, digital media, and financial markets. I've included my favorites below!
Video
EVERY DAY AFTER
Trailer for my film, EVERY DAY AFTER. I wanted to executive produce this film because I am a cleft-affected person and I want the world to better understand the health and psychosocial journey of cleft-affected people. In addition, I want to humanize cleft-affected and facially different people who are often type cast by Hollywood as social deviants or pariah. I want this practice to end.
Log Line: The older sister of a neglected adolescent boy faces her own fears so her brother can heal and experience the everyday joys and struggles of growing up.
Official website: http://www.EveryDayAfterFilm.com
LRM RED CARPET INTERVIEW
Red carpet interview I gave at the HollyShorts Film Festival to explain why I'm so excited to executive producer EVERY DAY AFTER.
I want to show the journey cleft-affected people face in their lives as well as end the negative tropes and stereotypes imposed upon people with facial differences by Hollywood and the media.
CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR ACTORS
Interview our EVERY DAY AFTER film team gave at the HollyShorts Film Festival.
THE CHRIS VOSS SHOW
Shared some thoughts on my book and entrepreneurship with Chris Voss.
THIS WEEK WITH SABIR
Shared some thoughts on Asian American entrepreneurship with Sabir Semerkant.
THE CREATE YOUR OWN LIFE PODCAST
Shared some thoughts on happiness and life choices with Jeremy Ryan Slate.
RETIRE AS YOU DESIRE
Shared some thoughts on how I reached financial independence with Bill Bloom.
CBS WJTV
Had a short and sweet morning interview on CBS WJTV 12 with Kayla Thompson. Spreading the Wall Street Warrior message!
OPEN CONVERSATIONS
Shared some tactics with Nicole Palmer of The Open Conversations podcast:
- How I leveraged my liabilities
- The benefits of limiting your number of direct reports
- The importance of practice - especially with salesmanship
- DEI's importance from a purely business standpoint
REEL8: EVAN JACKSON LEONG
Jazzed to share our second Reel8 episode with Asian American filmmaker Evan Jackson Leong. It is being broadcast on TV, OTT, and online.
We discuss his career including his iconic documentary, Linsanity, and his first narrative film, Snakehead.
He also shares some of the challenges he's faced as a minority filmmaker in Hollywood. 🎬
REEL8: BAO TRAN
Jazzed to share our first Reel8 episode with Asian American filmmaker Bao Tran. It is being broadcast on TV, OTT, and online.
We discuss the biggest challenge for minority filmmakers in Hollywood in this country. 🎬
Watch this video of The Paper Tigers movie director Bao Tran where he sits down with me to share his ten-year long journey of producing the critically acclaimed Netflix movie “The Paper Tigers”! 🐅
BEONDTV
Shared how a company I co-founded, Reel8, is working to support filmmakers of color with a new show that highlights the realities of the entertainment business.
I explain to Carlos Amezcua why I believe it’s a grassroots effort to show the fan base how to support these filmmakers who are making great art.
The first show is about Bao Tran, the director of “The Paper Tigers” now streaming on Netflix.
I explain that by telling experiences like Bao’s – fans will understand the realities of the windy road that comes with filmmaking.
Reel8 also is harnessing the power of the blockchain and creating an experience for fans with NFTs and merchandise that supports these filmmakers.
AAAIM
I gave a keynote presentation to the membership of AAAIM and summarized the salient points from one chapter in my book, The Way of the Wall Street Warrior.
The chapter is titled, "Be a Stork, Not a Pigeon" and I give tactics on how to always add value in meetings and at work.
THE ZACK BALLINGER SHOW
I was recently on The Zack Ballinger Show where I shared some tactics from my entrepreneurial journeys:
- Training at the altar of investment banking gave me capacity to do many things at a time including iterating start-up ideas
- Starting a company is like birthing a child; spend the time to iterate it and don't launch it prematurely
- To come up with good start-up ideas, have a curious mind and look at rising tide industries. They tend to be much more forgiving of beginners
TRUEHEART
My friends Amy and Scott @wearetrueheart are all about empowering people to do a little bit of good every day. The Trueheart podcast is serving up hope and inspiration on @applepodcasts and wherever podcasts are found. I’m excited to be a guest on their show! If you want the full experience, grab some popcorn and tune in to the show on YouTube where you’ll see me chat with Amy and Scott about how I went from the janitor’s suite to the C-Suite during my prolific career on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley over the last thirty years. Plus, I discuss my new book The Way of The Wall Street Warrior and open up about the profound lessons I’ve learned from being born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate. The show also includes a special segment with @SmileTrain ambassador Zach Thomas and his Mom Allison Pagan who share their family’s inspiring story.
WEALTH FORMULA
Discussed with Buck Joffrey of Wealth Formula on how to use psychology to hack life for success and wealth. Covered M&A, career, angel investing and a host of topics including:
- Using testing and observation to determine the right incentives to get people to do what YOU want
- How to use FOMO and vanity to drive M&A deals
- Why you need to figure out your Personal Cost of Capital before making a career transition
- My criteria for making private investments
- Best way for average investors to participate in technology opportunities
ASAMNEWS
Discussed my book, The Way of the Wall Street Warrior, with Shirley Ng of @asamnews. Some key takeaways for the Asian American community included:
- Personality has a huge impact on your compensation and promotion the higher you go up the corporate ladder
- You should reevaluate your own IKIGAI framework on a regular basis to prevent work burnout
- Find your mentor/sponsor (aka Yoda) on the yellow brick road of money in your company
- Asian Americans are the least likely to get promoted and one of my solutions is "white collar unionization"
BEONDTV
- To get in the game you can be a great checkers player, but to get to the top, you have to be a grand master in chess
- Much of the stuff I've learned in school or in training is high on theory and low on practice
- My book is resonating with professionals in their 20s and 30s because they are realizing the corporate world is rigged and not a meritocracy
- Theory smashes into reality when they ask themselves, "How is this person my boss!!?"
Private Equity Profits
- Cognitive bias and learning what makes people tick helped me win the corporate game
- I consider the Greater Fool Theory and my Personal Cost of Capital when first making investments
- Cleaning bathrooms for $3.35/hour taught me the IKEA effect and how it can help preserve generational wealth
Q&A With Tau Beta Pi
Enjoyed doing an interactive Q&A with @TauBetaPiOfficial, the national engineering honor society, where I'm a member and serve on the Trust Advisory Committee. Some of the stories I shared included:
- The best way to lobby for more compensation
- What I learned from my 3 Harvard Business School classmates getting indicted
- What I did when I was assaulted by another Managing Director
Color of Success
Shared my work-life philosophy with Dr. Stephanie J. Wong. Aside from giving career advice, I touch upon:
- Why mental health isn't exposed on Wall Street
- Secret to a great marriage
- And other career tidbits
Coalition of Asian and Pacific Islander Employees of Santa Monica (CAPE SM)
Spoke to the Coalition of Asian and Pacific Islander Employees of Santa Monica where I shared my thoughts on a wide range of career topics related to the #BambooCeiling. Some questions I answered included:
- How to lobby for #Compensation?
- How to use the #ModelMinorityMyth to your advantage?
- Advice for #AAPI women given some men are pigs!?
Thrive Global
Shared my writing tips and tricks with Jessi Beyer on @Thrive Global. Remember every big problem is just a bunch of small ones!
Smile Train
I have rarely (if ever) spoken publicly about my cleft but I'm happy to do it if it can help even one kid out there. Here's an interview I gave to @BEONDTV.
Bamboo Ceiling
This is an interview I gave to ABC News regarding how Asian American leaders find the bamboo ceiling tough to crack for promotions. You can read the article here.
Internet of Things - Big Data
I moderated a panel on confluence of Internet of Things and Big Data and the implications for future products and services.
Internet of Things - The Next Wave
I moderated a panel on the next major wave: the Internet of Things. My panelists include a scientist, Y Combinator graduate, and C-level executive operating IoT companies.
Mobile Disruption
I participated in a panel discussing the next major waves of mobile disruption. My panelists included executives from the advertising, internet media, and publishing industries.
Invest
I participated in a panel discussing the future of investing with a particular emphasis on the global landscape and the differences across continents.
Where's the Money
I participated in a panel moderated by Henry Blodget where we discussed the future of money and fundraising such as IPOs.
Direct Access
I moderated a panel to discuss the shared economy and crowd businesses that dis-intermediate the middle men.