JOSH LINKNER

Five-time tech entrepreneur, hyper-growth CEO, two-time NY Times bestselling author, venture capitalist, and keynote speaker on a mission to drive creativity, innovation, and reinvention


  • Founder and CEO of five tech companies, which sold for a combined value of over $200 million
  • Author of four books, including two New York Times Bestsellers: "Disciplined Dreaming: A Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity", and "The Road to Reinvention: How to Drive Disruption and Accelerate Transformation"
  • Founder and former CEO of ePrize, the world’s largest interactive promotion agency that provides digital marketing services for 74 of the top 100 brands
  • He is also the Founding Partner of Detroit Venture Partners, investing in and mentoring over 100 startups
  • His work on innovation has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, CNN, and The New York Times
     

Josh Linkner – who started his career as a jazz guitarist - personifies creativity, entrepreneurship and disruptive innovation. He has been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which sold for a combined value of over $200 million.

Josh is the author of four books, two New York Times Bestsellers: Disciplined Dreaming: A Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity, and The Road to Reinvention: How to Drive Disruption and Accelerate Transformation, as well as his latest book, Hacking Innovation. He is also the Founding Partner of Detroit Venture Partners, investing in and mentoring over 100 startups.

Josh has twice been named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and is a President Barack Obama Champion of Change award recipient. He is a regular columnist for Forbes, The Detroit Free Press, and Inc. Magazine. His work on innovation has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, CNN, and The New York Times. And yes, he still plays a mean jazz guitar.

To get to know Josh, one can explore the six interconnected aspects of his work:

1. Entrepreneur & CEO. Josh was the founder and CEO of five successful technology companies over the last 26 years. Josh is Founder and former CEO of ePrize, the world’s largest interactive promotion agency that provides digital marketing services for 74 of the top 100 brands. Each of his five startups enjoyed successful exits with a combined value of over $200 million. He’s been involved in the launch and growth of over 100 businesses, raised over $150 million of venture capital, employed thousands of people and fought through the dot-com crash, 9/11 and the 2008 financial meltdown. His extraordinary business accomplishments led him to be honored twice as the Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” and as a President Barack Obama “Champion of Change” Award recipient.

2. Author & Thought Leader. Josh’s first book, Disciplined Dreaming – A Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity was a New York Times bestseller and named one of 2011’s top ten business titles by Amazon.com. It is now available in 13 languages. His second book, The Road to Reinvention – How to Drive Disruption and Accelerate Transformation, was also named a NY Times Bestseller in its first week on bookshelves and was named the 2014 Best Leadership/Management Book by 800-CEO-READ. His most recent book, Hacking Innovation: The New Growth Model from the Sinister World of Hackers, is a powerful look into redirecting the techniques of cybercriminals to drive meaningful outcomes in our companies, careers and communities. He is a regular columnist for Forbes, The Detroit Free Press, and Inc. Magazine. His work has been featured consistently in the media, including The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, USA Today, and The New York Times.

3. Venture Capital Investor. As Founding Partner of Detroit Venture Partners, Josh remains at the cutting edge of technology and entrepreneurship. He oversees a $60 million venture fund investing in tech startups with the goal of revitalizing his hometown of Detroit, Michigan.

4. Keynote Speaker. Consistently ranked one of the top speakers on innovation, creativity, and reinvention, Josh brings an artistic flair while delivering powerful, inspiring, and practical keynotes and workshops. His presentations are customized for every event, ensuring a highly relevant and valuable outcome. Through his talks, Josh has inspired over 500,000 people across four continents.

5. Jazz Musician. Beginning at age eight, Josh became a dedicated musician. He began performing professionally at age 13, and later attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music. Still a professional-level jazz guitarist, Josh often injects live musical performances into his keynote presentations in a unique and memorable fashion. He brings a jazz musician’s commitment to creativity and improvisation to the business world, offering a distinctive perspective to growth and leadership.

6. Detroiter. Deeply passionate about his hometown, Josh is playing a key role in the much-publicized turnaround of Detroit, Michigan. A multi-generational Detroiter, he is working on the front lines to reinvent his troubled city.

Bottom line: Josh Linkner brings a unique and diverse set of experiences to any project, and helps organizations drive creativity, innovation, and performance.

  • Creativity
  • Innovation

  • Imagination

  • Change

HARNESSING INNOVATION: TURNING RAW IDEAS INTO POWERFUL RESULTS

As a four-time successful tech entrepreneur and investor in dozens of startups, Josh Linkner has seen thousands of companies loaded with creative buzz and big ideas. How is it that some harness their imagination to create game-changing drivers of growth and innovation while others miss the mark? The answer: the best companies have a systematic process to focus their team’s creativity into practical outputs – something Linkner discovered by founding and building companies that collectively sold for over $200 million. As a professional-level jazz guitarist, Linkner blends the improvisational qualities of a jazz ensemble with bleeding-edge business savvy to bring a completely fresh perspective on unleashing creativity in the organization. His inspiring presentation delivers practical tools that can be used immediately to increase creative output and deliver bottom-line results.

A STREETFIGHTER’S GUIDE TO REINVENTION: LESSONS FROM THE FRONT LINES OF DETROIT’S REBIRTH

Detroit’s fight back from the brink is an inspiring tale of resilience told first-hand by Josh Linkner whose grit and passion are playing a critical role in the city’s revitalization. Linkner is a driving force in Detroit’s comeback; among his many honors – “Detroit Executive of the Year”, the region’s “CEO of the Year” and “Michiganian of the Year.” As the CEO of Detroit Venture Partners, he is helping the city he loves rise from the ashes and reconnect to its entrepreneurial and technological roots. Linkner’s heartfelt talk energizes audiences with the power of possibility. It’s also a cautionary tale of how Detroit, once a birthplace of innovation and a vibrant city, succumbed to the evil forces of protectionism, blame, and bureaucracy. In this talk, Linkner shares the lessons from this powerful comeback story – still in progress.

ENTREPRENEURIAL FIRE: THINK AND ACT LIKE A STARTUP (EVEN IF YOU’RE NOT)

Entrepreneurs look at the world differently. We celebrate them for their bold vision and courage - they drive game-changing innovation that creates enormous economic success while making a profound impact on the world. What is it about the entrepreneurial mindset that helps these mavericks seize opportunity that others miss? A five-time successful tech entrepreneur, Linkner shows leaders and organizations how to embrace the creativity, grit, and vision of a startup and then channel this approach to drive growth, innovation, efficiency, and customer delight. Josh Linkner decodes the entrepreneurial DNA to help leaders of any size company in any industry or profession.

GRAVITY DEFYING LEADERSHIP: UNLEASHING YOUR ORGANIZATION’S CREATIVE MOJO

With disruptive forces assaulting business from every direction, creativity has been labeled the single-most important business attribute. To succeed, leaders must be focused on creating a resilient culture where everyone’s engaged; a torrent of fresh, creative ideas needs to ow from every level of the organization. Top leaders then employ a secret weapon: a systematic approach to selecting and launching the ideas that will best drive growth and innovation. Josh Linkner weighs in with a fresh perspective on this critical leadership challenge. A highly successful serial entrepreneur and now a tech investor, Linkner shows leaders how to employ his simple but effective framework to ramp up the creativity and identify/launch ideas that will break through and defy gravity.

THE MUSIC OF BUSINESS: TRANSLATING IMPROVISATIONAL THINKING FROM THE JAZZ STAGE TO BUSINESS

Be prepared to be amazed. Josh Linkner, a jazz guitarist since age 14, credits a musical background for giving him a different way of looking at business. In this stunning interactive presentation, a live jazz performance by Josh and his band is woven with stimulating dialogue. You’ll actually hear, through their music, fresh ways to unleash your organization’s creative mojo. In jazz, 99% of the notes are improvised; created in real-time. Yet it’s the structure of a jazz combo – not the inherent talent of individual musicians – that allows for such breathtaking creative expression. In today’s business landscape of dizzying speed, exponential complexity, and ruthless competition, we can no longer just play the notes on the written page. You will learn powerful lessons inspired by jazz musicians (a/k/a “real-time innovators”) to help you develop your own ability to improvise, establish creative team dynamics, break free from traditional.

  • Travels from: Detroit, USA

  • Fee Range: USD 40.000 to USD 50.000