Find your spark together with a leading innovation expert
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Five-time tech entrepreneur, hyper-growth CEO, New York Times bestselling author, venture capitalist, professional jazz guitarist & host of Creative Troublemakers Podcast on a mission to drive creativity, innovation & reinvention.
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About Josh
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He has been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which sold for a combined value of over $200 million. He’s an internationally recognized expert on innovation and is the author of four books on the subject including the New York Times Bestsellers, Disciplined Dreaming and The Road to Reinvention.
Josh is passionate about starting and building companies. He’s the co-founder and Managing Partner of Muditā Venture Partners – an early-stage venture capital firm – and was previously the CEO and founding partner of Detroit Venture Partners. Over the last 30 years, he’s helped over 100 startups launch and scale.
Today, Josh serves as Chairman and co-founder of Platypus Labs, an innovation research, training, and consulting firm. He has twice been named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and is a recipient of the United States Presidential Champion of Change Award.
Josh is also a passionate Detroiter, the father of four, a professional-level jazz guitarist, and has a slightly odd obsession for greasy pizza.
See keynotes with Josh LinknerThe pressure to generate big ideas can feel overwhelming. We know that bold innovations are critical in these disruptive and competitive times, but when it comes to breakthrough thinking, we often freeze up.
Instead of shooting for a $10 billion IPO or a Nobel Prize, the most prolific innovators focus instead on Big Little Breakthroughs – small, creative acts that unlock massive rewards over time. By building a daily habit of creativity, leaders and organizations not only enjoy a high volume of small wins, but also the daily practice of micro-innovations — the fastest route to discover the massive breakthroughs we seek.
How did a convicted drug dealer use a Big Little Breakthrough to launch and scale a massively successful fitness company? Why was a nurse practitioner able to use daily micro-innovations to solve healthcare problems that the biggest corporations couldn’t crack? How did a tattoo lead to a 30% boost in performance for a publicly traded restaurant company?
Big Little Breakthroughs isn’t just for propeller-head inventors, fancy pants CEOs, or hoodie-donning tech billionaires. Rather, it is a simple yet effective method for all of us to cultivate the power of human creativity. Focusing on a simple and deliberate approach to daily practice, the system enables people from all backgrounds, training, and walks of life to expand their creative skillset and mindset. It helps everyday individuals and leaders unlock inventive thinking and harness innovation to tackle tough challenges and seize bold opportunities.
The Big Little Breakthroughs framework provides a specific and practical approach to unlocking dormant creative capacity. Instead of wild, risky and expensive moonshots, participants learn to unleash small, daily creative acts to drive gigantic results over time. In fact, cultivating high volumes of micro-innovations not only de-risks the creative process, it builds the much-needed skills that lead to colossal transformations…and the creative confidence to take responsible risks.
In these uncertain times, we can no longer rely on the models of the past and expect the same results. How can we confront the new realities of the COVID-19 era and emerge stronger and better equipped?
Creative problem solving has long been the core ingredient in overcoming adversity and seizing new opportunities. In this inspiring keynote, famed tech entrepreneur and New York Times bestselling author Josh Linkner explores the realities, challenges, and opportunities created by COVID-19 and delivers an inspiring path forward. Participants will learn specific techniques and leave both energized and better equipped to conquer challenges and seize possibilities.
How can leaders bounce back and recover after facing painful setbacks? How can creative resilience be harnessed to conquer adversity? How can we rewrite the rules after a massive sea change like the coronavirus?
In this high-energy session, participants will see how creative problem solving can become their most powerful resource. They’ll uncover practical tools to unlock inventive thinking and win even against daunting odds and unprecedented challenges.
Having interviewed hundreds of top innovators, leaders and organizations around the world, New York Times bestselling author and tech entrepreneur Josh Linkner uncovered the five most powerful mindsets that are the building blocks for jawdropping innovation. In this high-energy keynote, your audience will learn to embrace these powerful approaches in order to conquer adversity and fuel growth.
How did an oddball idea save the cattle industry over $1 billion? How did a large hotel chain create a new revenue stream and drive competitive differentiation without investing a penny? How did the leaders of a small organization stave off a near-certain extinction, even when they were overwhelmingly outmatched by a powerful enemy?
Each mindset is reinforced through surprising, real-world examples, laugh out loud moments, and practical takeaways. The five mindsets are portable and can be applied immediately to any role, job function, or industry. This memorable session will leave your audience inspired, moved, and better equipped.
Live jazz is an art form that equates to real-time innovation. To even navigate through a single song, jazz musicians must collaborate, adapt to rapidly changing circumstances, and make decisions in the face of ambiguity. As the baton of leadership gets passed from one musician to the next, individual contributors are constantly course correcting, inventing, and creatively solving problems.
Sounds just like your organization, doesn’t it?
In this unique and memorable keynote, jazz guitarist and tech entrepreneur Josh Linkner uses a live musical performance as a metaphor for modern, innovative collaboration. Josh and his fellow musicians lead the audience on a musical journey, sharing an insider’s look at this stunning art form. Through the lens of a jazz musician, participants will gain a fresh perspective and new techniques for creative problem solving, improved collaboration, and real-time agility.
This mesmerizing session’s finale features live audience participation. After helping to ”compose” a new jazz song, three audience members join the band and perform their new composition live in front of their peers (no musical experience necessary). Participants are given handheld percussion instruments – along with some fun props and costumes – and together with Josh and his fellow musicians, the group performs for the audience. This live performance brings the key learning principles to life, always ending in a cheering crowd and terrific pictures for social media.
On a regular basis, we upgrade our cars, software, and wardrobe. But when was the last time you upgraded your imagination? Isn’t it about time to give your team a boost of inventive thinking, creative problem solving, and everyday innovation to drive better outcomes?
From your upgrade, you will:
In this inspiring keynote, Josh will help your team grow, as both business leaders and as people. Your audience will learn to solve problems in creative, nontraditional ways and expand their creative capacity to drive growth and sustainable success.
Your group will laugh hysterically, feel thoroughly energized, get deeply inspired, and leave better equipped. Now that’s an upgrade that’s simply irresistible.
Have you ever wondered how Oprah and Bill Gates think and act behind the scenes? How do the entrepreneurs we revere invent bold ideas, do more with less, and change the world as a result? What would happen if the founder of Snapchat or Zoom joined your organization?
Tech startups aren’t the only ones who can think differently. We can all use this same creative thinking in our own careers, companies, and communities.
In this energizing and surprising keynote, five-time tech entrepreneur and venture capital investor Josh Linkner demystifies startup thinking and shares a specific methodology that we can put into practice immediately. Audience members will learn to embrace the creativity, grit, and vision of a startup and then channel this approach to drive growth, innovation, efficiency, and customer delight.
Participants get an insider’s look as Josh Linkner decodes startup thinking to help leaders of any size company in any industry or profession:
Click on the video to get a foretaste of a keynote by Josh Linkner
In our turbulent business climate, we all seek new pathways to growth and success. Yet winning can be elusive in these times of dizzying speed and ruthless competition.
Too often, once great organizations become intoxicated by their own success. They fail to adapt, fail to innovate, and then simply fail. To avoid this trap, we must exploit our most powerful weapon: human creativity. Its the one thing that can’t be outsourced or automated, and has become the currency of success. Cultivating creativity and innovation is leadership job #1 if we want to enjoy sustainable growth and progress.
Having studied hundreds of the most innovative people in history, I’ve discovered five core beliefs that transcend industry, geography, and upbringing. These patterns are easy to understand and can be implemented directly into your daily work to drive growth and success:
1. Get Curious. It turns out that curiosity is very much the building block of creativity. The more curious you are, the more creative you’ll become. Try asking questions that begin with “why”, “what if”, or “why not?” When you ask these questions, it forces you to imagine the possibilities and explore fresh approaches.
2. Crave What’s Next. It’s easy to think success is a permanent condition, yet that has been the downfall for far too many organizations. Instead, we must lean into change, embracing new approaches rather than clinging to old ones. Too often, we overestimate the risk of trying something new but underestimate the risk of standing still.
3. Defy Tradition. Family traditions can be wonderful, but traditions in our professional lives can be deadly. Blindly doing things in a traditional way has been the downfall or far too many companies and careers. Instead, when you find yourself approaching your work in a traditional way, examine your approach carefully and see if you can flip it upside down.
4. Get Scrappy. We often believe our ability to innovate is tied to external resources such as money, headcount, or raw materials. The truth is, the real building blocks of innovation areinternal resources: Grit. Determination. Tenacity. Resilience. This is why startups are able to do more with less and upend industry giants.
5. Adapt Fast. Most breakthroughs only materialize through a series of setbacks and mistakes, failures and pivots, tweaks and micro-innovations. Rapid-fire creativity, practiced as a daily habit, can be far more important than the potency of an initial ideal. Experiment, learn, adapt. Rinse and repeat.
Creativity is a skill – a muscle – that each of us can harness to drive our companies and careers to the next level. Push the boundaries, shake it up, explore what’s possible. Inject innovative approaches into your everyday work, and the results will be stunning.
Josh Linkner is a 5-time tech entrepreneur, NY Times bestselling author, venture capitalist, and professional-level jazz guitarist, and highly sought after keynote speaker.
What is the message you hope people take away from your presentations?
Audiences leave my talks energized and empowered. They are fired up knowing that they have the capacity to inject creativity into all areas of their business in order to drive meaningful results. And they are empowered by learning specific techniques and business takeaway value that they can put to use immediately. Attendees come away fully understanding the importance of creativity and innovation in their organizations, and are given a specific framework for how to deploy this natural resource effectively.
How are your keynotes Unique?
I am not a typical “speaker” whose main accomplishments are speaking. I founded, built, and sold three companies before I turned 30. My 4th company grew to 500 employees and $100 million in revenue before I sold it to a large private equity firm. I now run a venture capital firm in Detroit, Michigan and am also a professional jazz musician.
I bring a very unique perspective of someone who has actually put these ideas to work, who has overcome deep adversity, and has used creativity to win at the highest levels of business. The presentations include zero “bullet points.” Instead, they are rich with vivid imagery, energizing video clips, humor, and captivating story telling. Audiences are entertained, fired-up, and given specific tools to expand their own creative abilities.
Who or what is your biggest source of inspiration?
Those that forge new ground inspire me. Business and community leaders who dare to do the never-been-done-before. I admire those that disrupt the status quo and shatter conventional wisdom. This ranges from innovators like Elon Musk and Tony Hseih to jazz musicians like Charlie Parker and Miles Davis. I am inspired by those who break the mold and have the courage to turn things upside down.
Why is creativity so important in the business world?
It has gone from being a nice-to-have to being mission-critical. As many of the competitive advantages of the past have become commoditized, creativity is the one thing left standing. The one thing that can’t be outsourced. The one source of sustainable competitive advantage. In a world of dizzying speed, exponential complexity, and ruthless competition it is the natural resource that can be the difference maker between prosperity and mediocrity. Between staying alive or getting crushed by the competition.
Can you give 3 tips for companies who wish to create a creative business culture?
Is there a link between your passion for jazz and the work you do?
Absolutely! Jazz is fundamentally about improvising, which is the exact same demands we face in the business world. Things are moving too quickly to follow an operating manual and expect to win. Jazz musicians adapt to rapidly changing circumstances, thrive on ambiguity and essentially innovate in real time. Developing these skills is critical for business leaders today in order to drive their organizations forward in these challenging times.
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