Launching the World's First Autonomous Aerial Data Network
In 2025, I joined Spexi Geospatial to help launch and grow LayerDrone: Earth's first autonomous aerial data network. By year's end, the network had grown by over 300% — becoming the world's largest standardized drone imagery network, with 5.5 million acres imaged across 180,000+ missions flown by 8,000+ pilots.
The Challenge
LayerDrone sits at the intersection of two worlds that don't overlap much: professional drone operators and blockchain infrastructure.
Drone pilots understand airspace, weather windows, and upload issues. They don't necessarily understand token economics, wallet custody, or why a decentralized network serves them better than a centralized platform. Frankly: most don't care. My job was to close that gap and translate LayerDrone's technical and economic architecture into something a working pilot could understand, trust, and ultimately participate in.
At the same time, LayerDrone needed to establish credibility within the Web3 ecosystem. That meant building a coherent narrative that positioned the network not just as a drone company experimenting with crypto, but as a serious project with real-world operational proof.
My role is to bridge onchain infrastructure with the real-world pilots who capture the imagery. I communicate why a token will power the network's future, and I tell the story of what we're building to the wider world.
My Role
I joined as Web3 Lead, responsible for bridging LayerDrone's onchain infrastructure with the real-world pilots and contributors who power it. In practice, this meant owning community, communications, content strategy, and the operational pieces of the planned token launch.
Token launch communications and compliance. I led the public-facing strategy for LayerDrone's planned token, including regulatory compliance during pre-launch quiet periods, community education, and the narrative framework explaining how the token transforms pilot incentives. This required translating complex tokenomics into plain language without oversimplifying the mechanics or creating legal exposure.
Community growth and management. I managed and grew LayerDrone's Discord (3000 → 11,000+ members), social channels (0 → 50k followers), and the LayerDrone blog. This included weekly community calls (and podcasts, leaderboards, polls, quests), monthly campaigns, and a steady cadence of posts documenting the Foundation, the pilot network, and the community itself.
XP system design and implementation. I created and managed LayerDrone's Experience Points (XP) system — a contribution recognition framework that allowed non-pilots to earn standing in the network by creating content, answering questions, and supporting new members. Within a year, the system had 40,000+ points holders and 122,000+ completed quests.
Open Capture Campaign. I helped launch the largest network expansion in LayerDrone history: 200,000+ missions across 40+ southern US cities, using 10x RP rewards to test token-adjacent incentive mechanics at scale. The campaign proved that non-cash incentives could drive real operational growth.
Messaging and narrative architecture. I built the foundational messaging framework for LayerDrone's positioning across both Web2 and Web3 contexts — including documentation, blog content, and social strategy that explained why decentralization makes aerial data networks more efficient and equitable.
Agency management. I coordinated external agencies across creative, PR, and growth functions — managing relationships, reviewing deliverables, and ensuring execution aligned with expectations.
THE DRONE NETWORK podcast. I produce and host a weekly show exploring the evolution of the drone industry and documenting the world's largest drone network. The podcast serves as a content flywheel that educates pilots, attracts ecosystem guests, and extends LayerDrone's reach beyond its existing community.
Results
The numbers from 2025 reflect what happens when community strategy, content, and incentive design work together:
- 307% network growth year-over-year
- 5.5 million acres imaged through 180,000+ missions
- 8,000+ active pilots in the network
- 40,000+ XP holders across the contributor ecosystem
- 122,000+ quests completed through the XP system
- 11,000+ Discord members in an active, engaged community
- The LayerDrone Foundation established within three months of my joining
All operational goals set at the start of the year were exceeded.
What's Next
The 2025 results established something important: you can coordinate thousands of independent operators to build infrastructure that performs at enterprise scale. LayerDrone's model works.
In 2026, the LayerDrone token launch will transform how pilots engage with and benefit from the network they've built. My focus is ensuring that transition succeeds on every level — that pilots understand what's changing and why it's in their interest, that the token mechanics improve rather than complicate their experience, and that LayerDrone establishes itself as the definitive protocol for aerial data intelligence.
The network will power the next decade of spatial intelligence. My job is making sure everyone — from pilots to partners to investors — understands why that matters.