"Innovator for the 21st Century" (TIME), "America's Best Leader" (U.S. News), "The World's Mentor Capitalist" (Thomas Friedman, The World Is Flat) and "The Entrepreneur Whisperer" (ABC, FOX, NPR) are among the designations given to Linda Rottenberg. The subject of five Harvard Business School and Stanford GSB case studies, Linda is primarily known by another name: Chica Loca ("the Crazy Girl"). Why crazy? Two decades ago, Linda insisted that innovative, high-growth, high-impact entrepreneurs exist outside of Silicon Valley; almost no one believed her. As co-founder and CEO of Endeavor, Linda has led the global entrepreneurship movement since 1997. With 60 offices spanning the world, Endeavor's 500+ member team and international mentor network rigorously identify, select, and scale up the most promising entrepreneurs in emerging and underserved markets, including secondary U.S. cities. The 2000 selected Endeavor Entrepreneurs now generate over $20BN in annual revenues and produce more than 3 million jobs. Linda also oversees the Endeavor Catalyst LP Fund, currently over $200M AUM, which co-invests in top Endeavor Entrepreneurs raising equity capital. Beyond Endeavor, Linda currently serves on three corporate boards: a leading bandwidth infrastructure company (NYSE: ZAYO); a pioneering software developer (NYSE: GLOB); and a digital food-ordering platform (OLO). Linda is also a member of the Yale President's Council on International Activities (Yale PCIA). Her book, CRAZY IS A COMPLIMENT: The Power of Zigging When Everyone Else Zags, became an instant NYT bestseller. Other recognitions include: Global Leader for Tomorrow/Young Global Leader (World Economic Forum); 2017 Visionary Award (Silicon Valley Forum); Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters (Babson College); 2018 Heinz Award in Technology, the Economy and Employment (Heinz Family Foundation). A graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School, Linda lives in Brooklyn Heights with her husband, author Bruce Feiler, and identical twin daughters, Tybee and Eden.

Linda Rottenberg
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Current: Talks at Google: Crazy is a Compliment

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Linda Rottenberg
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CRAZY IS A COMPLIMENT

THE REWARDS OF CREATING YOUR OWN PATH

Every entrepreneur at one point in time has had a “crazy moment”—a time when almost everyone bets against them. What separates successful entrepreneurs from the rest is the ability to face down naysayers, embrace and manage risk, harness chaos, tolerate failure, and muster the courage to be contrarian. The best entrepreneurs zig when everyone else zags. Linda Rottenberg has spent her career helping innovators think big and get over their own fears. Blending inspirational stories with practical tips, she will help you hone your entrepreneurial personality, take smart risks, and adapt the tenets of leadership 3.0. As Linda says, “If people aren’t calling you crazy, then you’re not thinking big enough.”

THINK LIKE AN ENTREPRENEUR

LESSONS FROM THE WORLD’S MOST SUCCESSFUL INNOVATORS

Twenty-five years ago “entrepreneurship” was a rarely used French term that applied to a handful of individuals that were mostly in tech, mostly in California, and mostly go it alone. Today, entrepreneurship is better viewed as a distinct set of skills and a way of approaching the world. Top corporations have taken note and are seeking ways to disrupt themselves before others beat them to it. For 18 years, Linda Rottenberg has guided 1,000 “high-impact” innovators around the world, helping them scale from promising startups to global multinationals. Now she shares cutting-edge strategies for success and compelling—and occasionally irreverent—business lessons. Managers will come away with practical tips for adopting an entrepreneurial mindset essential to success in the new global economy.

LEADERSHIP 3.0

MOTIVATION AND INNOVATION FOR THE NEW GLOBAL WORKFORCE

Named one of “America’s Best Leaders” by U.S. News & World Report, Linda Rottenberg has developed a playbook for leading effectively in the new global economy. Thanks to 20 years of experience working with 1,000 world-class entrepreneurs while simultaneously scaling her organization, Endeavor, in 20 countries, she has identified the “Goldilocks rules” of 21st century leadership: not so “hard” that they apply only to button-downed organizations; not so “soft” that they apply only to t-shirt startups. In this talk, Linda explains how to use chaos to your advantage; motivate employees with “psychic equity”; attract and manage millennials; infuse your business with purpose; and remain nimble in an age of disruption. Linda also shares tips for building a diverse global workforce and ensuring that all employees find meaning in their work.

DE-RISKING RISK

SURVIVAL STRATEGIES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY ECONOMY

Stability is dead. Economic crises, technological disruption and nimbler competition mean that more than ever, individuals and corporations must adapt or perish. If you think risk-taking is risky, being risk-averse is often riskier. But how do you know which risks to take? This is Linda Rottenberg’s expertise. The backer of 1,000 top entrepreneurs and author of Crazy Is a Compliment: The Power of Zigging When Everyone Else Zags, Linda is a leading champion of challengers to the status quo. In this talk, she discusses strategies to stop planning and start doing, mitigate risk, embrace chaos, win backers (including your boss), and take your idea to market. Above all, she will help you realize that nowadays you need to be agile and daring, and maybe a little bit crazy, or risk being left behind. “If you’re not being called crazy,” says Rottenberg, “you’re probably not thinking big enough.”

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SKUNKS IN THE WORKPLACE

INTRAPRENEURSHIP AS THE EDGE TO SUCCESS

Have you lost your edge? Job security and your secured position at the head of the pack are relics of the past. Caught between increased competition and economic fluctuations, corporations are struggling to stay dominant. Research shows that even top companies are losing their leadership position faster than ever. You must adapt from within, or you’ll be forced to adapt from without. In this context, survival depends on tapping into the creativity of your employees and giving them the freedom to pursue their ideas. Forget top-down corporate strategy—the key to success is intrapreneurship. Linda Rottenberg offers proven strategies to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit in your organization by encouraging risk-taking, embracing failure, dismantling silos, and creating a skunk work-like environment where ideas can percolate from the bottom up.

GO BIG AND GO HOME

A CEO’S APPROACH TO WORK-LIFE BALANCE

“My favorite expression used to be ‘go big OR go home.’ Then I realized I needed to do both,” says Linda Rottenberg, who in addition to being CEO of a major global organization, is also a full-time wife and mom of nine-year-old identical twin daughters. In the same way that entrepreneurs are redefining many of the traditional rules of the workplace, they’re also helping to break down one of the most stubborn boundaries of all—the one between work and life. In this talk, which Linda has delivered to top female executives of Fortune 500 companies, she relates moving personal stories, including her husband’s battle with (and ultimate triumph over) one of the deadliest forms of cancer. She also draws upon a pantheon of female pathbreakers, from Veuve Clicquot (the first international businesswoman) to Margaret Rudkin (the frustrated mother who turned her son’s illness into Pepperidge Farm). With an engaging style, Rottenberg motivates audiences to find ways to “go big AND go home.”

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Linda Rottenberg

Global Business Visionary and Leader

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