Radical Truth
It's Not Who You Know: Why Networking Doesn't Work
Nobody prices a relationship, and every deal in private capital runs on one. David Homan lost a foundation endowment to Madoff and rebuilt on 2,500 of them. Fourteen years running a cultural foundation, seven albums as a classical composer, and one rule that decides who gets into the room. This is TBLI Radical Truth with Robert Rubinstein. David Homan spent 14 years running a cultural foundation until Bernie Madoff took the endowment, rebuilt his career as a working classical composer, and then built a private community of more than 2,500 connectors around one argument: the introduction is the asset, relational capital is the only capital nobody bothers to measure, and you curate a room for integrity rather than for net worth. David Homan is the founder and CEO of Orchestrated Connecting, a private community of over 2,500 global superconnectors spanning venture capital, family offices, sport, entertainment and founders. He is a classical composer with seven albums and international radio play, author of the 2025 book Orchestrating Connection, board chair of the Arthur Miller Foundation, and founder of SOAR Connect, the relationship technology platform he launched in July 2024. WHAT'S COVERED - 14 years running a multi-million dollar arts foundation, and the day the endowment went to zero- What rebuilding donor trust takes when the money is gone and the fraud was not yours- Why the introduction, not the meeting, is the asset- Give before you ask: the rule underneath a 2,500 person community- Measuring what a room actually produced, instead of counting who attended- Why family offices run on relationships no accounting standard recognises- Networking to be seen, versus connecting to be useful- Seven albums and international radio play, and why he calls composing and connecting the same job- SOAR Connect, launched July 2024, and the problem of building trust into software- Orchestrating Connection, the 2025 book, and what writing the framework down changed- Professional pivots, and what he tells people starting over after a setback that was not their fault CHAPTERS 0:00 The Art of Orchestrated Connecting2:13 Finding Purpose in Divergent Paths4:08 Why Relationship Value Is Overlooked6:17 Filtering Extractors from Connectors8:18 The Power of Vulnerability in Networking12:42 Lessons from the Madoff Endowment Crisis26:02 The Economics of Success Fees40:31 The Eternal Hope for Human Connection RELATED EPISODES Max Studennikoff, CC Forum, on why deal flow is the only measure of a room that matters. The same argument from the convening side. Yarrow Kraner, HATCH, on getting people who cannot normally work together into one room, and what happens when they are. MORE ON DAVID HOMAN Book Orchestrated Connecting: https://orchestratedconnecting.comDavid Homan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrhoman/ ABOUT THE TBLI RADICAL TRUTH PODCASTMost finance podcasts protect the industry. This one interrogates it.The financial system says one thing. Reality often says another.I'm Robert Rubinstein. For 30 years TBLI Group has been the world's leading ESG and impact investing network, which means 30 years inside the room with the people running the system.Every week, one question the industry would rather nobody asked, and the insider who can answer it.No sponsors. No pretending.TBLI GROUP- https://www.tbligroup.com- Robert Rubinstein on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertrubinstein/THE EXTRACTION MACHINEHow business takes your money, your work, your resources, your data and your future, while presenting itself as something else entirely. Robert Rubinstein's next book, from 30 years inside the system.If this conversation makes you question where your money is actually going, The Extraction Machine takes that investigation much further. If you want to understand who really benefits from sustainable finance, subscribe to TBLI Radical Truth. Recorded in 2026.
