Prior to joining Commonwealth Capital as Chief Communications Officer in late 2023, Mr. Crabtree served many entrepreneurial endeavors based on his skillsets as a highly experienced trial lawyer in Dallas, TX. There, he tried 102 jury trials within the first seven years of his legal career. His selling skill at “making the case” to juries successfully has evolved into an extraordinary ability to coach entrepreneurs on how to sell professional investors on investing in their start-up or early-stage companies. This fits suitably well with our business model.

As a prosecutor, Mr. Crabtree specialized in violent felonies like robberies and murders before moving into the special crimes unit focused on child abuse cases. During his 16 months in that unit, he tried cases of child sexual abuse, child physical abuse, and child death cases. For four years during that time he also coached the national mock trial team at SMU Law School while also teaching Trial Advocacy.

After seven years as a trial lawyer, Robbie decided to take on a new challenge. He first founded an EdTech start-up around public speaking for tech company executives and leadership, which was eventually acquired by OnDeck at the end of 2020.

Since that acquisition, Robbie founded Competitive Storytelling and turned it into the premier storytelling practice for founders, CEOs, and their leaders in the world of technology and venture capital. Since 2021, Robbie has trained thousands of these leaders, from start-ups to large public enterprises, to help them become world-class storytellers.

Mr. Crabtree has privately coached founders and CEOs who have raised over $575 million as of June 2023. These efforts have been backed by the biggest venture capital funds in the world, such as a16z, Redpoint, Y-Combinator, and others. He is partnered with venture firms like Seven Seven Six and is also a venture partner at Antler.

Mr. Crabtree’s approach to storytelling and fundraising comes directly from his experience as a trial lawyer, which is why he’s regularly asked to speak across the world on the subject. He has spoken at Stanford University multiple times where he has addressed the funding gap for minority and female founders while providing a roadmap for how capital allocators and founders can change that dynamic.

Mr. Crabtree grew up in Houston, TX before going to Haverford College in Philadelphia. At Haverford, Robbie played on the baseball team and majored in history, where he wrote his senior thesis on "The Rise of the Religious Right: Tracing the Shift from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan." He was also a Nike-sponsored CrossFit™ Athlete for two years before he turned his full attention to his professional career. He went on to law school at SMU where he graduated in 2014.

Mr. Crabtree is the author of the upcoming book, "Competitive Storytelling."

Mr. Crabtree joined Commonwealth Capital as Chief Communications Officer to bridge the gap between the legal profession and pre-IPO companies. His skillsets demonstrate how attorneys can further monetize their knowledge and business community contacts to the next level. With his leadership, attorneys can now easily learn how to effectively engage in the more formal corporate/founder experience, within the areas of corporate finance, as opposed to simply practicing law on an hourly basis.

In so doing, attorneys not only incubate well-capitalized clients, more importantly they hear the world of corporate finance from the perspective of securities within the U. S. private capital markets. Most experienced attorneys simply elevate their knowledge and experience to acquiring board seats on pre-IPO companies, as an alternative avenue to simply practicing law, on an hourly or contingency basis.

As a member of Commonwealth Capital’s senior management team, Mr. Crabtree, as Chief Communications Officer, along with other senior management team members, is responsible for assisting in the firm's messaging into the industry and market. Robbie will be key to developing the legal, as well as other strategic industry communications for the benefit of promoting the capitalization of innovation through the sale and issuance of securities, compliant with federal and state(s) securities laws, in order to become the quality deal flow sought by investors worldwide.

Robbie, with his partner Anya (a former litigator turned climate tech founder), lives in the greater Miami area.