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David Heyman
National Security Executive - Venture Catalyst - Innovation
Professional Background
David Heyman is a distinguished National Security Executive and Venture Catalyst, renowned for his strategic thinking and innovative approach to solving some of the most complex national and global challenges. With a remarkable career spanning over 30 years in business and government, he has made significant contributions toward enhancing national security and promoting technological advancement. David has a proven track record of developing and implementing national security strategies, building successful global teams, and investing in over 30 cybersecurity and urban technology startups.
Currently, David Heyman is the CEO and co-founder of Smart City Works Venture Labs, an innovative business accelerator dedicated exclusively to improving urban infrastructure, livability, operations, and resilience of cities. His visionary leadership is critical in advancing the mission of the organization, as it caters to a pressing need for sustainable urban development in today's rapidly evolving global landscape.
Beyond his role at Smart City Works, David serves in various advisory capacities across municipalities, corporations, and international boards. His expertise in national security and international affairs allows him to provide valuable insights and guidance in numerous high-level discussions and decision-making processes, fostering collaboration among various stakeholders.
Education and Achievements
David's impressive academic background greatly supports his standing as a leading expert in his field. He earned a Master of Arts (M.A.) in International Economics and International Relations, graduating with the Highest Level of Distinction from The Johns Hopkins University - Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His undergraduate education includes a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Biology from Brandeis University, where he developed a strong analytical foundation that underscores much of his work in the intersection of technology and security.
In addition to his formal education, David has participated in a Non-degree Law Program focusing on International Business Transactions and Constitutional Law of Emerging Democracies at Eötvös Loránd University, broadening his legal understanding in relation to international affairs.
Professional Experience
David Heyman's career trajectory reflects his diverse and significant contributions to national security and public policy. His roles have included:
- Chief Executive Officer and Founder at Smart City Works Venture Labs, where he leads efforts to drive innovation in urban technology.
- Former Member at The Homeland Security Experts Group (MITRE), contributing to discussions shaping national security policy.
- Board President and Co-Founder at Smart City Works Innovation Lab, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to fostering advancements in urban innovation.
- Chief Executive Officer and Founder at Tektonics Global, where he played a pivotal role in strategizing and implementing technology solutions.
- Advisory Board Member at Hedayah, where he guided initiatives aimed at promoting global security.
- Leadership experiences on various boards and commissions, such as Chair of the Homeland Security Commission at DC Government and as a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Group at The Aspen Institute.
His government service is equally impressive. David held senior roles, including:
- Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where he was instrumental in shaping policies to enhance national security in a rapidly changing environment.
- Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, providing strategic counsel on matters concerning national energy policy and security.
- Influential positions, such as Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and as a Founding Director and Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
- His tenure in the private sector has also been marked by impactful roles, such as Management Consultant at Ernst & Young and Senior Advisor for National Security and International Affairs at The White House.
David's experience as Director of International Operations and Systems Software Engineer at RGTI Systems Software laid the groundwork for his understanding and integration of technology within national security frameworks. His career exemplifies a blend of technical acumen with strategic insight, making him one of the leading figures in his domain.
Media Presence
David's expertise has made him a sought-after commentator in the media, providing insights on issues related to national security, technology innovation, and public policy. His work has been featured by major media outlets, including ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Fox, BBC, MSNBC, NPR, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. These appearances highlight his ability to communicate complex topics clearly and effectively, further enhancing public understanding of pressing national security matters.
Achievements
Throughout his illustrious career, David Heyman has received recognition for his contributions to national security and technology innovation. His prolific involvement in startup investments and his leadership at Smart City Works Venture Labs underline his commitment to fostering innovation in urban technology and enhancing the resilience of cities worldwide.
David's diverse roles demonstrate not only his expertise in national security and international affairs but also his proactive approach to driving change and advancing the field. His ability to collaborate with various stakeholders and lead teams toward a common purpose is a testament to his exceptional leadership capabilities.
In summary, David Heyman's extensive background as a National Security Executive and Venture Catalyst positions him as a key thought leader and strategist in the realms of national security, technology, and urban innovation. His commitment to fostering collaborative efforts among various sectors, combined with his wealth of experience and academic excellence, continues to propel him to the forefront of addressing the challenges faced by societies worldwide. As cities evolve and technology plays an increasingly integral role, David's leadership and vision will be instrumental in shaping future pathways for urban development and resilience.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Clay is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Clay as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Clay offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Clay's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Clay makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Clay's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Clay isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Clay instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Clay is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Clay can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Clay is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.