Ex-Google exec to bring Web3 to masses as new Aptos Labs adviser
Aptos Labs — a layer-1 blockchain platform developed by former Facebook employees — continues scaling on its mission to enable billions of people to access decentralized assets.
The Aptos Labs team introduced its new global advisers on May 9, including David Lawee, former Google vice president of corporate development.
Lawee, founder of Alphabet’s independent growth equity fund Capital G, will use his deep Web2 consumer experience to promote blockchain to the mainstream.
Lawee joins Aptos’ advisory board along with Pamela Drucker Mann, chief revenue officer at the global media firm Condè Nast Global, and Dan Boneh, professor of computer science at Stanford University.
Mann will focus on strengthening the Aptos Labs’ ecosystem culture, while Boneh will provide research on cryptography and cybersecurity to advance infrastructure and security.
“Aptos Labs is clearly on a mission to support expanded access to financial empowerment, digital experiences, and social connectivity on a global scale,” Lawee said. “I’m looking forward to working closely with this thoughtful, tech-forward team to bring Web3 to the masses,” he added.
The news comes about a year after Lawee stepped down as head of CapitalG in March 2023 after 17 years with Alphabet, with partner Laela Sturdy becoming new head of CapitalG.
In his role at CapitalG, Lawee has been increasingly moving into the cryptocurrency industry in the past few years. In 2021, CapitalG partnered with Digital Currency Group (DCG), a major cryptocurrency company founded by CEO Barry Silbert.
“We believe that DCG will be among crypto’s few truly industry-defining leaders,” Lawee wrote in a blog post in November 2021. He added: “We are excited to invest in them and to partner with them on their important journey to transform crypto into the major global asset class it’s destined to be.”
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Lawee’s post came just about a year before the crypto industry was hit with the crypto lending crisis, leading to the collapses of firms like Three Arrows Capital (3AC), which triggered massive contagion affecting firms like DCG.
The contagion fueled significant financial issues for DCG, with some of its subsidiaries like Genesis Global filing for bankruptcy in January 2023.
Aptos — where Lawee will continue his Web3 adventure — was founded in 2021 by Mohammad Shaikh and Avery Ching. It operates the native token, Aptos (APT), which is the 31st largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization at $3.6 billion at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko.
Since its launch, Aptos has raised $350 million from investors including venture capital arms of exchanges like Coinbase and Binance as well as now-bankrupt firms like 3AC and FTX.
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