The BEE MEE Founding Team
David Lucatch
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-lucatch-06806a5/
David is a founding partner of BEE MEE and manages corporate, entertainment industry partnerships and marketing programs. As a serial entrepreneur, David has over 40 years of experience in the international marketing, online businesses, and technologies sectors.
As an early Internet pioneer, David was actively involved at the outset of the Internet in the emergence of eCommerce technology, media, and entertainment. David has remained engaged in the evolution of online revolution and is well experienced in Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and the intersection of blockchain technologies with marketing, digital identity, and the next generation of media engagement.
Having several successful exits, David is a graduate and Arbor Award recipient from the University of Toronto, member of the Forbes Business Counsel, a NY Emmy Nominated Executive Producer and part of a team that holds a Guinness World Record in the online space.
Rob Cole
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-p-cole/
Rob is a founding partner of BEE MEE and manages technology and operations for the platform. He has held executive and managerial positions in SaaS, AI and Machine Learning Development, language translations, and the manufacturing sectors of print and automotive.
Rob has participated in all matters of sales, strategy and product development and the integration of technology and process in the business. Rob is part of a team that holds a Guinness World Record in the online space.
RJ Reiser
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rj-reiser-14b5b73/
RJ is a founding partner of BEE MEE and manages key revenue programs and technology partnerships. RJ’s career has been focused on startups in the tech field of CAD, Voice Recognition, risk management, Big Data and Blockchain. He has contributed to many successful exits to fortune 500 companies. “By working together, we can bring a Trust Layer to the internet.”
Lynn Marie Cumiskey
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynn-marie-cumiskey-9b4660161/
Lynn is a founding partner of BEE MEE and its Corporate Secretary. For over 30 years, Lynn’s career has focused on corporate administration, securities, liaising with corporate counsel, managing compliance and HR.
The BEE MEE Advisory Team
Neil Stiles
https://www.linkedin.com/in/neil-stiles-1bbb048/
Neil is a former Board Director of Reed Business Information in the UK and CEO of eMedia. His divisional responsibilities included a range of publications and events in multiple markets. He was also responsible for sales across the whole of RBI and headed up the internal pricing consultancy. He was also instrumental in developing RBI’s strategy away from magazines into data. As a direct result of this strategy, he moved to LA.
Neil took over the Entertainment division of RBI USA which included his role as CEO and Publisher of Variety, the iconic entertainment industry publication. Whilst at Variety he led the development of a wider business strategy
taking the company into conferences, higher price data and syndication. Neil executed the sale of Variety and other assets as part of Reed Elsevier’s overall strategy to exit the magazine and newspaper publishing sector.
Neil set up his own consulting practice in 2014 and since then has worked with a wide range of companies from startups to well established corporations. The area of focus for his consulting is pricing and developing viable online business models.
David Hibbard
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-h-63b39887/
David is a serial entrepreneur in the entertainment, music, consumer products, and fashion sectors. Experienced in building companies from the ground up, David’s most recent venture was a tech startup Cap That which was acquired by Musictoday in 2017 where today, David heads up business development and strategic partnerships.
Keith J. Knee
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kknee/
Keith Knee is a successful entertainment media, technology, and finance executive. Knee has a unique perspective on entrepreneur-founded and owned businesses, partnering with over 20 businesses in the last 15 years.
In 2008, Knee formed Spartan Media Partners (SMP), an entertainment IP management and finance company with offices in Los Angeles and New York City. The company owns and manages several film libraries and specific Intellectual Properties and has set up TV and film projects with partners, including Amblin TV and Wayfarer Studios.
Most recently, Keith’s work has primarily focused on senior-level advisory and strategy work for companies, including CSSE/Crackle, Redbox, ICR, Paramount, I-Heart, and T-Mobile. Knee worked closely with Ron Meyer when he was the Chairperson of NBCU and helped bring the company Endless Entertainment into the NBCU fold. During his one-year contract as EVP of Strategy, Keith helped grow the company from 5 to 65 full-time and 150 part-time employees generating millions in revenue. Keith continued to support the company after his departure.
Recent M&A work involved developing the thesis and running due diligence for the $375 million acquisition of Redbox by client CSSE/Crackle. Knee also sourced the $200 million capital to acquire the Hollywood Center Studios on behalf of a client.
Knee has helped several companies in ad tech and marketing find exits. This includes senior-level deal structuring between Uber and Octopus Interactive, which resulted in an exit of Octopus to T-Mobile in early 2022. T-Mobile hired Knee as a senior advisor to help launch their entertainment advertising business. When Knee's deal ended in October 2023, he had hit all his milestones for T-Mobile, setting the division up to drive tens of millions of dollars in new revenue based on his work.
Knee also works closely with the chairperson of the Ashton Kutcher co-founded SMS marketing company Community.
Michael Gord
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mgord/
Michael Gord is a polyglot, speaking over a half dozen languages and committed to learning several others, a serial entrepreneur, advisor to startups, and investor who has focused on the mainstream adoption of digital assets full time since 2013.
Michael is the co-founder & CEO of the GDA Group of Companies, which are focused across the digital asset capital market and include GDA Capital, a boutique investment bank focused on disruptive technology; GDA International, focused on digital asset investments and capital market advisory; NFT BAZL, focused on investment grade NFTs and Life DeFi, focused on making DeFi accessible for retail investors.
Michael is also the co-founder and COO of Metaverse Group, a metaverse technology company, which was acquired by Tokens.com, a publicly traded web 3.0 holding company.
Previously, Michael was the CEO of MLG Blockchain, focused on enterprise and government consulting and development, which was merged with Secure Digital Markets to form GDA Capital. Michael has been involved in projects that have raised hundreds of millions in digital asset financings, digital asset offerings with a total market capitalization in the billions, built the first Canadian university blockchain communities while studying at McGill University and was the first enterprise blockchain developer at TD Bank.
Michael holds a B Comm from McGill University.
Pradeep Khanna
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pradeep-khanna-b445743/
Pradeep Khanna has Multiple Global Roles and knows 10,000+ entities globally in the Metaverse / XR ecosystem.
He was invited by the Secretary General of OECD to speak in Paris on Immersive Technologies at Inaugural Global Technology Forum (GTF) held along with the OECD Ministerial Meet in June 2023. GTF was attended by 300+ policy leaders (including Ministers) from all over the world.
Pradeep is CEO of Global Mindset, Executive Director Asia Pacific & Global Co-Chair Education for Virtual Reality Augmented Reality Association (VRARA) and is also Co-Founder of a social enterprise INSquare.
With over 30 years of executive experience, Pradeep has been a leader for IBM Australia/NZ leveraging India, China, Philippines, Vietnam, Egypt, Romania, Brazil & Argentina.
Remaining active as Adjunct Professor in Australia and Asia, Pradeep is also a Strategic Advisor to IIT Jodhpur/i-Hub Drishti and on Academic Board of Astra Institute of Higher Education.
Pradeep is global leader inEmerging Technologies, Immersive Technologies, Metaverse and EdTech.
Additionally, Pradeep is on Advisory Boards of several companies including Metaverse Fashion Council. He is MBA from AGSM (UNSW), MSc (Computer Science) from UTS & B Tech from IIT Delhi.
Jake Gold
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-gold-92046030/
Jake is the President and CEO of The Management Trust, Ltd., and is one of Canada’s most successful artist managers, and for its 6-season run, a judge on the national television hit Canadian Idol. In 1981, Gold started his artist management company, The Management Trust, through which he is best known for his role in establishing and transforming The Tragically Hip into a national icon.
In 2020, Gold reunited with the band to direct their legacy in Canadian music history; he also manages acclaimed pop rock band The Pursuit of Happiness, and music producers Moe Berg, Laurence Currie, and Russell Broom, and co–manages the quickly rising Pop R&B act Ethan Surman alongside Ryan Hefford.
Gold has been recognized by the annual Canadian Music Industry Awards as Manager of the Year in 1991, 1993 and 1994. In 2009, Gold was elected to the board of CIMA (CIRPA) and had been Vice‐Chairman of CIMA for 10 years.
Jake was also a board member for the MMF (Music Managers Forum), and was instrumental in starting the organization in the 90’s. In 2013 he was the recipient of MMF Honour Roll Award for his lifetime work in the field of Artist Management.
In 2023 he was awarded the “Change” award (formerly the builder award), for his many years of service to the board. Later that same year, he was also honoured along with his clients, The Tragically Hip, with the Founder award from Warchild Canada for their continued contribution to the charity.
Jake currently sits on the Connect Music board as well as the Re:Sound board.
