Josh Linkner

Josh Linkner is a New York Times bestselling author, serial entrepreneur, venture capital investor, professional jazz guitarist, and a globally-recognized innovation expert.

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In today’s fiercely competitive global marketplace the most important resource any business has is the creative thinking of its people. Josh Linkner lays out a road map that will guide individuals, teams, and companies to higher levels of creativity. It is a journey that will lead to better ideas and breakthrough thinking.

Bill Ford

Executive Chairman, Ford Motor Company

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Why you should book speaker Josh Linkner

He is a founding partner of Detroit Venture Partners and advised and/or invested in over 100 startups.
Josh is one of the leading experts on innovation, hyper-growth leadership and disruption.
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.

Non-binding request for Josh Linkner

Find your spark together with a leading innovation expert

Josh Linkner is a creative troublemaker. He started his career as a jazz guitarist and then went on to become the founder and CEO of five tech companies. He is also a deeply experienced business leader, venture capitalist, top-rated keynote speaker, New York Times bestselling author, and professional jazz guitarist. He is a world-renown expert on innovation, disruption, and hyper-growth leadership.

On the business front, he’s been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which created over 10,000 jobs and sold for a combined value of over $200 million. He’s the co-founder and Managing Partner of Muditā (mooDEE-tah) Venture Partners - an early-stage venture capital firm investing in groundbreaking technologies. Over the last 30 years, he's helped over 100 startups launch and scale, creating over $1 billion in investor returns. He's twice been named the EY Entrepreneur of The Year and is the recipient of the United States Presidential Champion of Change Award.

While proud of his business success, his roots are in the dangerous world of jazz music. He’s been playing guitar in smoky jazz clubs for 40 years, studied at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, and has performed over 1000 concerts around the world.

His experiences in both business and music led him to become one of the world’s foremost experts on innovation. Josh is the co-founder and Chairman of Platypus Labs, a global research, training, and consulting firm. Today, he’s on a mission to help leaders Find A Way™ through creative problem-solving, inventive thinking, and ingenuity.

Customer Reviews

Bill Ford Executive Chairman, Ford Motor Company

We very much enjoyed your talk and workshop. You created just the right finish and exclamation point in our program. The feedback from our team – amazing, energizing messages, entertaining and humorous, actionable learnings, things people can do right away.

Sajeena Warrier Managing Director, Intel Security

Building a culture of innovation in large companies is critically important, and there’s no better way to learn than with a trusted roadmap of tools and real-life examples. Josh Linkner illustrates how innovative thinking is possible for every employee and business leader, so we can all unlock our full creative potential.

Mike Kaufman CEO, Cardinal Health

Josh Linkner helps organizations discover and exploit their strengths in a changing business world. He clearly shows how to reignite innovation and unlock new business value such as speed, agility, persistence and partnership.

Alan Boehme Chief Innovation Officer and Global CTO, The Coca-Cola Company

Josh Linkner delivers a roadmap to help future generations of entrepreneurs and innovators push boundaries and explore the art of the possible. He provides a clear path to help you build an army of everyday innovators and turn ideas into action.

Steve Case Co-Founder and Former CEO, AOL, Chairman, Revolution Partners

Josh Linkner unlocks the techniques behind some of the world’s most remarkable innovations.

Eric Schurenberg CEO, Fast Company & Inc.

Awesome, awesome, awesome!!! You nailed your message and nicely incorporated our company into your talk.

Dr. Gregory F. Molinar Director of Neuromodulation Research, Medtronic

The speed of invention is threatening traditional products and services, already relegating some to history. No business can afford to pause for a moment from the headlong drive to meet new challenges. Josh reminds us that to reinvent the workplace we must continually reinvent ourselves as leaders.

Deborah Hopkins Chief Innovation Officer, Citibank

Thank you a million times over—you nailed it with the presentation yesterday and it was spot on for our team! You sparked so many follow-on discussions and were a continued theme throughout our meeting—people are already brainstorming great new ideas about how to implement small innovations and use your tips to break down barriers on our teams.

Melissa Filipek Director Public Affairs, American Express

With the pace of innovation and resulting changes in consumer behavior, no company can afford to sit still. Growing a successful company requires creative assessment and disruption – and this constant change can be tough on an organization. Josh Linkner illustrates how to steward this mindset in your organization; how to lead your employees to not only accept, but embrace, the necessity for continuous reinvention.

Carol Kruse Former Chief Marketing Officer, ESPN

Josh Linkner sets the new standard for using creativity in everyday life. Inspiring stories, fascinating research, and a practical guide that shows how all of us can be everyday innovators.

Mel Robbins New York Times bestselling author of The Five Second Rule; host of the Mel Robbins Podcast

Keynotes

Keynote by speaker Josh Linkner:

Find A Way™

A proven innovation framework to solve problems, accelerate opportunity and sustain growth.

As we enter a new era of business, 50% of leaders in the United States have lost confidence in their ability to make decisions in the face of uncertainty. The level of disruption, technology threats, and volatility can be paralyzing. We are in a leadership crisis and must embrace a new model to meet today's challenges.

Prolific entrepreneur, venture capital investor, and innovation expert Josh Linkner helps you Find A Way™ through his proven 5-step innovation framework for cultivating full-organization ingenuity. Whatever outcomes you crave the most - from sales growth to competitive advantage to employee engagement - you’ll walk away with specific tools to drive sustainable success.

The Find a Way™ framework prioritizes agility over brute force, creativity over hustle, and improvisation over perfect planning. Leaders who embrace the model are inspired and better equipped. They feel confident to move forward into the darkness and have a newfound capacity to win consistently, no matter the circumstances.

This keynote serves leaders & teams who are:

Facing uncertainty and volatility.

Seeking better ways to drive the outcomes they crave the most.

Struggling to keep up with the pace of change.

The audience will leave with:

A proven model for harnessing ingenuity to solve any problem and seize any opportunity.

Innovative strategies to drive better results every day.

The confidence to walk into the unknown and emerge victorious.

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Keynote by speaker Josh Linkner:

Big Little Breakthroughs™

How Small, Everyday Innovations Drive Oversized Results.

The 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 on Big Little Breakthroughs – small, creative acts that unlock massive rewards over time.

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 this inspiring, timely, and high-impact keynote, New York Times bestselling author and globally-recognized innovation expert Josh Linkner shows us how to de-risk the creative process, build the capacity to unlock breakthrough transformations and gain the creative confidence to take responsible risks.

This keynote serves leaders & teams who are:

Aware of the need to innovate but having a hard time getting started.

Responsible for creating a culture of innovation.

Feeling pressure to generate breakthroughs but struggling to deliver them.

The audience will leave with:

A proven framework to cultivate a high volume of innovations without the typical risk.

Inspiring and memorable stories that show how ingenuity, creative problem-solving, and inventive thinking can lead to breakthrough results.

The mindsets, habits, and tactics of the world’s most prolific artists, business titans, and entrepreneurs.

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Keynote by speaker Josh Linkner:

The Music of Business™

What business leaders can learn about collaboration, creativity, and performance under pressure from the mysterious world of jazz.

The mysterious and dangerous world of jazz is a caldron of spontaneous creativity. And in times of radical change and uncertainty, it serves as the perfect model for modern leadership.

Professional jazz guitarist and prolific entrepreneur Josh Linkner connects the dots between jazz and business, helping to unlock the secrets of some of the world’s most creative geniuses. Using live jazz as a metaphor for collaborative innovation, this session is entertaining, inspiring, and directly applicable to the daily challenges we face in business.

A fusion of live musical performance and keynote presentation, the session’s finale includes audience members “joining the band” to compose and perform a song in real-time to the delight of the audience. Cameras will flash as the entire group is dazzled by their colleagues' improvisation and spontaneous invention.

This keynote serves leaders & teams who are:

Looking for an elevated experience beyond a typical keynote.

Craving deeper collaboration, creativity, and performance.

Seeking a way to stand out from the pack and lead in a fresh, creative manner.

The audience will leave with:

The mindset and perspective of a jazz musician serving as a creative new model for business growth and results.

A deeper understanding of collaborative creativity and specific tools to harness inventive thinking and artistic expression.

A memorable and inspiring sense of what’s possible and how to push boundaries and barriers to achieve remarkable outcomes.

The creative confidence to pursue our highest calling and to never let the music inside us die.

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Keynote by speaker Josh Linkner:

The Innovative Leader

A modern framework to lead with confidence in the face of uncertainty and change.

The business you're running today isn't the business you'll be running next year. In this moment of volatility and uncertainty, we are being called to lead in a radically different way… more decisive, creative, and adaptable. So how can we use this defining moment to ensure relevancy, sustainability, and success in the future?

In this inspiring and practical keynote, battle-tested CEO, venture capital investor, and leadership expert Josh Linkner delivers a modern and accessible framework to help leaders thrive in the face of uncertainty and leverage their skills to move into uncharted territory with confidence.

You’ll learn how to unlock inventive thinking, creative problem-solving, and ingenuity in every box of the org chart. The most successful leaders today help everyday people become everyday innovators. They make sure that innovation is an everyday business.

This can’t-miss session goes way beyond the future of work. This is the future of growth, the future of relevancy, the future of leadership, and the future of success.

This keynote serves leaders & teams who are:

Being called to lead in a bold, new way.

Overwhelmed with the demands of modern leadership.

Craving a more innovative approach to drive explosive growth, gain competitive advantage, and get more from their teams.

The audience will leave with:

A modern framework for innovative leadership.

Insights from some of the world’s most prolific leaders.

A behind-the-scenes view of legendary business disruption.

Strategies to drive growth, engagement, and success amid change and uncertainty.

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Keynote by speaker Josh Linkner:

Disciplined Dreaming™

A proven system to drive breakthrough creativity.

In our modern AI-driven world, creativity has become the currency of success. It’s the one thing that can’t be outsourced or automated; the indisputable competitive advantage. We are all hard-wired to be creative, yet most of us have underdeveloped creative skills. And today, more than ever before, creative problem-solving and inventive thinking are crucial to overcoming obstacles and seizing opportunities.

Based on the breakaway New York Times bestselling book published in 19 languages and globally recognized by over 2 million readers as the definitive work on applied creativity, author and creativity expert Josh Linkner takesthe audience on a journey to unlock their dormant creative capacity. Inspiring stories, surprising truths, and instantly-applicable solutions make this keynote both energizing and actionable.

This keynote serves leaders & teams who are:

Facing increasing challenges and competitive threats.

Craving a new approach to harness their full creative potential.

Struggling to keep up with the pace of innovation.

The audience will leave with:

A proven model for harnessing and applying human creativity.

An understanding of how the most innovative and disruptive leaders think and act.

Practical techniques to generate more high-quality ideas at any time and for any challenge.

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Keynote by speaker Josh Linkner:

Innovation in the Age of AI

A modern framework to unlock sustained profitable growth at the intersection of technology and human creativity.

In an era where artificial intelligence is not just a tool but a transformative force, Josh Linkner invites you on a thought-provoking journey into unlocking the synergies between AI and human potential for next-gen engagement, growth, and profitability.

Josh Linkner, a prolific tech CEO, venture capital investor, and innovation expert, has been a technology pioneer for over 30 years. He founded, launched, and sold five groundbreaking tech businesses that leveraged cutting-edge innovation to gain a competitive advantage. Today, Josh remains at the forefront of tech transformation, running a venture capital firm and innovation studio focusing on the next generation of AI disruption.

In this mind-opening keynote, Josh shows leaders a new model where human creativity and AI fuse together to win during relentless waves of disruption and change. Through groundbreaking research, compelling stories, and unexpected insights, this keynote illuminates the path forward as AI reshapes nearly every dimension of business and life.

This Keynote Serves Leaders & Teams Who Are:

Seeking a new synergistic way where AI and human potential.

Feeling overwhelmed and unprepared by the rapid change from AI-powered transformation.

Looking for a playbook that mitigates risk and maximizes opportunities in this new wave of disruption.

The Audience Will Leave With:

An elevated understanding of the changes AI will bring and what to do right now to adapt and prepare.

A leadership model to embrace the AI revolution instead of fearing it.

Strategies to fuse human creativity with AI to gain competitive advantage and drive profitable growth.

Mindsets and tactics to boost relevance, agility, and adaptability.

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Keynote by speaker Josh Linkner:

Rethink. Reboot. Reinvent

How to drive disruption and accelerate transformation.

We’re living in a rate of change like none other in history. The hard truth is that we can no longer rely on the models of the past and expect the same results.

In this energizing and actionable keynote, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of rapid change and how to respond confidently and intentionally. New York Times bestselling author and lifetime disruptor Josh Linkner shares a proven model for you to take control and reinvent your own future.

This keynote serves leaders & teams who are:

Struggling to keep up with the rate of change.

Overwhelmed with competitive threats, technology advancements, and shifting disruptive market forces.

Recognizing the need for reinvention but struggling to gain traction.

The audience will leave with:

A proven framework to lead reinvention efforts of all shapes and sizes.

The confidence to walk into the unknown and realize they can now navigate whatever challenges or opportunities emerge.

Mindsets and tactics to ensure relevance, adaptability, and sustainable success.

The ability to rethink old approaches and discover new ones.

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