Drue Freeman
Board Director, Consultant & Advisor
Experienced Global Automotive Semiconductor Executive
Bridging the Gap Between Startups & The Automotive Industry
Technology is transforming the Automotive and Transportation Industries. Much of the innovation is coming from companies that didn’t even exist a decade ago. New players and established corporations are finding ways to work together for their mutual benefit. Startups are learning what it means to be suppliers to the automotive industry and the automotive industry is getting better at finding new innovations even earlier. Still, these are two distinct worlds, the technology startup ecosystem and the established automotive industry, where two different sets of rules and two different mindsets predominate. Operating effectively in both domains can be challenging.
Whether you are an established automotive corporation looking to improve your visibility to earlier stage innovative companies, an established company in another market looking to make inroads into automotive, or a startup with ambitions of working with the automotive industry, Drue Freeman has the experience to help you bridge the gap between these domains.
“Ideal Power (NASDAQ:IPWR) is a small publicly traded company pioneering the development of a unique double-sided bidirectional power semiconductor architecture, B-TRAN™. When we were looking to add industry experience to the Board of Directors, we were introduced to Drue. Drue’s resume reflected a deep level of accomplishment that covered the breadth of the industry from product inception through rollout and seemed a perfect fit for our needs. Drue has delivered this and so much more. His open and inquisitive nature has led to numerous advancements not only to Ideal Power’s overall business but also to the culture of the Board. Drue is a consistent contributor on all aspects of the business and has become an extremely valuable resource for the Board and management. I feel very fortunate to have found someone like Drue and highly recommend him.” - Mike Turmelle, Chairman of the Board, Ideal Power
About Drue
Drue is a 30-year semiconductor veteran, with 15 years focused on the international automotive industry. The former CEO of the Association for Corporate Growth Silicon Valley, he is an Independent Board Director at Ideal Power (Nasdaq: IPWR), Boardwalktech Software Corp. (TSXV: BWLK) and serves on the Advisory Boards of several public and private companies, primarily in the connected car and ADAS/Autonomous ecosystems.
Since 2016, Drue has been a member of Sand Hill Angels, a group of successful Silicon Valley executives and accredited investors who are passionate about entrepreneurialism and the commercialization of disruptive technologies. He served as an elected member of the Board of Directors of Sand Hill Angels from 2018 to 2024. Drue's Venture Capital and Angel Investments focus mainly on the automotive sector.
Previously, Drue served as Sr. Vice President of Global Automotive Sales & Marketing for NXP Semiconductors, gaining significant market share in the automotive semiconductor market. He has published several articles, participated in numerous expert panels, and spoken at various conferences on the topic of disruption in the automotive industry.
During his career, Drue lived and worked in Japan, Germany, and Shanghai, China, where he launched and served on the Board of Directors at Datang-NXP Semiconductors Co., Ltd., the first Chinese automotive semiconductor company. He is currently based in Cupertino, California.
Drue holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from San Diego State University and an MBA from Pepperdine University in Los Angeles, California.
“Drue has worked for me on a few projects as a consultant. Of the consultants I have worked with in the past, including some of the Big Name firms, I found Drue to be among the most thorough. He invested the time to deeply understand the needs of the organization and his recommendations were clear, specific, and immediately actionable. Drue produced high quality reports, presenting not only qualitative analysis of the organization status but as well proposed possible actions. Drue has profound knowledge of the semiconductor industry, global markets, as well ongoing innovation in the automotive segment. Drue is an excellent presenter and has a big network in Silicon Valley. It was a pleasure working with Drue, both as an independent consultant, as well a brainstorming partner.”
- Maya Strelar-Migotti, Former EVP, Business Organizations, Smart Networked Devices & Solutions, Marvell Semiconductors
“Drue and I met a dozen years ago at NXP Semiconductors. Following NXP, I recommended Drue to Sand Hill Angels where he performed really well and joined the board of directors. In parallel, he joined Silicon Catalyst as an early advisor and we reconnected in late 2017 when I joined Silicon Catalyst. Drue has been instrumental in helping many of our startups by providing guidance, access to customers and helping them raise investment. He is considered one of our top advisors out of over 280 worldwide.” - Pete Rodriguez, CEO, Silicon Catalyst
If you are a Startup, Drue can help you:
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Refine your Corporate Strategy & Business Model and develop meaningful Success Metrics appropriate to where you are in your lifecycle
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Develop strategies to increase your Global Business Development & Go-to-Market success
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Improve the investability of your business
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Understand the requirements of the Automotive Industry
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Identify potential Strategic Partnerships
If you are a Large Corporation Looking to Expand into Automotive, Drue can help you:
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Understand customer expectations
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Develop the automotive and customer centric mindsets required for success
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Develop cultural change programs to permanently embed these mindsets into your organization
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Identify and address organizational obstacles to success
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Expand the envelope of available options for bridging the gap between automotive and commercial technical requirements and business practices
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Develop strategies for winning the trust of your customers
If you are an Automotive OEM or Tier Supplier to the Automotive Industry, Drue can help you:
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Expand your technology scouting opportunities, especially if you are a small to mid-size company that does not have a large team dedicated to this purpose
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Identify and address obstacles to success when working with startups
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Perform due diligence on potential partners or investments
If you are an Executive or Aspiring Executive seeking to achieve greater impact, Drue can help you:
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Lead with integrity by developing a strong character ethic
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Identify your core principles that will guide your unique leadership style
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Improve your communication
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Expand your circle of influence
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Drive better results by nurturing the required relationships, skills and knowledge
Specialties & Experience:​
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• Public and Private Board Experience
• Global Marketing & Sales
• Automotive Semiconductors
• Connected Car
• International Business incl. Japan, China, Europe,
Africa, & US
• Quality & Customer Focused Change Management
• Public Relations & Media
• Executive Coaching
• Established Joint Venture with Chinese State-Owned
Enterprise
• Accredited Investor focused on Automotive &
Transportation
• San Diego State University Lavin + ZIP Launchpad Entrepreneurship Advisory Board
Partial List of Clients
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• Ideal Power (Board Director) (4/22 to Present) - (IPWR)
• Boardwalktech (Board Director) 9/24 to Present) -
Advisor (5/19 to 8/24) (TSXV: BWLK.V)
• Blue River (7/23 to Present)
• Aura Intelligent Systems (2/23 to Present)
• Matrix Capital (2/23 to 9/24)
• OWL Autonomous Imaging (8/21 to Present)
• Seamless Microsystems (4/21 to 5/22 - Acquired)
• Oculi (1/21 to Present)
• SapientX (Board Director) (6/20 to Present)
• Harvest Management Partners (7/19 to Present)
• DeepScale a.i. (11/17 to 9/19 - Acquired by Tesla)
• Metawave (8/17 to 10/18)​
• Ridar Systems (2/17 to Present)
• Savari, Inc. (5/16 to 2/21 - Acquired by Harman)
• Marvel (March 2016)​