Ryan Stephen Danz

Since graduating from law school in 2004, Ryan Danz has gone on to an in-house counsel position at a NYC based hedge fund, reached the Final 4 of The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, opened his own financial services company where the firm currently services over 6.5B in assets under management (AUM), raced around the world on The Amazing Race, authored his first book “Jiu Jitsu Jurisprudence” (published by Flagship imprint of ABA Publishing), and had his travel articles published by Exploration Travel Magazine.

In his free time he trains and competes in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (“BJJ”) where he has placed 3rd in Nationals (2010), 1st at the Gracie Barra CompNet (2011), 3rd again at the Gracie Barra Invitational (2012) and 3rd at Grappling X.  Ryan’s love for BJJ has taken him to distant places like Rio De Janeiro where he trained with the founding family of jiu jitsu (Gracie) in the original school.  Ryan maintains his competitive BJJ lifestyle by engaging other fitness disciplines including Pilates, Yoga and Cross Fit.  It was because of Ryan’s vast array of training disciplines and the Amazing Race cross-over that he landed his first endorsement deal, which he will be announcing in in fall 2012 on .

In Ryan’s downtime he can be found Crossfitting in Solana Beach or traveling to his home in Lake Tahoe where he and his black lab Elton take to the lake or off trail hikes around Northstar, Squaw Valley and Mt. Rose.

Recently two opportunities came Ryan’s way that have left him shaking his head and counting his lucky stars.  In January 2013 Ryan was approved for his book “Jiu Jitsu Jurisprudence“.  “Jiu Jitsu Jurisprudence” is available for pre-order (release date October 7, 2013) on .  The book description courtesy of ABA Publisher:

This is the first book of its kind to discuss the martial art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu within the context of the legal profession. It offers all attorneys (and other non-legal professionals) insight into one of the most complete—yet still relatively unknown—martial arts disciplines in the world. You will discover how to transition from the “Lawyers Mind” to the “Jiu Jitsu Mind” while learning about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu’s rich history and culture, basic techniques and moves, diet, and its emphasis on camaraderie both on and off the mat, all of which will help you become a better, more focused, less ego-driven yet more self-esteemed lawyer, professional, and person overall.”

In June 2013, Ryan and Exploration Travel Magazine (“ETM”) reached an agreement on a four-part travel article series ranging from Running of the Bulls to train travel around Europe.  The articles are set to publish throughout summer and fall 2013 and will be available on the ETM website.

Ryan also devotes both time and resources to raising awareness for Cove Guardians, an organization that attempts to end the slaughter of thousands of dolphins, porpoises, and small whales in Japan each year.  He is most proud of his on-going effort to learn Japanese so that he can one day travel to Taiji, Japan and raise awareness amongst the local communities that are unaware of the atrocities taking place in their own local waters.

On Ryan’s list of to-do’s is to promote and continue the success of 2 start up venture companies in the tech space.  As a licensed attorney in California Ryan also looks forward to speaking with other entrepreneurs regarding the nuances of business start up, specifically as it pertains to legal concerns.