I had the privilege of using Dave Knox as an opening speaker and would echo what one of my attendees told me afterwards 'Dave Knox was the best opening keynote I have ever heard'. He energized the room and set the tone for the day!
Dave Knox is an investor, startup advisor, and speaker in the areas of innovation, marketing, and digital transformation. Blending classical brand marketing acumen with entrepreneurial instinct, Dave is recognized throughout the industry as an innovator who bridges the worlds between brand marketing, digital, and entrepreneurship.
As Chief Marketing Officer of Rockfish, Dave helped the company become one of the fastest- growing agencies in the country, going from $8 million in 2010 to $70+ million in revenue in 2016. Simultaneously, Dave cofounded The Brandery, one of the top 10 startup accelerators in the US.
Combining these two worlds, Dave is also the author of the bestselling Predicting the Turn: The High Stakes Game of Business Between Startups and Blue Chips.
In his latest entrepreneurial journey, Dave was the CEO of Nature’s Willow, a leading natural pain relief brand he acquired in 2019 and sold in 2022 after growing the business 4x. Today Dave is the Executive Director of Blue North, serving as a front door for the entrepreneurial community, helping startups and small businesses to connect with the right resources to accelerate their business in Northern Kentucky.
For the last decade, the Fortune 500 has been responding to a wave of innovative, disruptive startups rethinking the rules of business. Now, companies big and small are faced with an entirely new and unexpected disruptor where consumer behavior is dramatically changing and the stakes have never been greater.
In this new environment, Predicting The Turn takes on a new meaning. Today’s environment is one where we must be aware of the danger but recognize the opportunity. No one knows exactly what the future will hold and this talk isn’t about bold – but baseless – predictions. Instead, Predicting The Turn is about a framework on how we can approach the changes playing out in society, consider the Second Order Consequences for our companies, and recognize the opportunities that may come out of these difficult times.
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As a brand marketer, venture investor, and startup advisor, Knox provides a one-of-a-kind worldview into the changing relationship between disruptive startups and Fortune 500 companies. Predicting the Turn is about trends and disruption. At its core, it’s a roadmap to win in the new game of business. It starts with looking at the concept of “seeing the future” and how participating in the startup ecosystem can help a company see the future of its industry before it happens. You will learn four strategies that your company might implement to be in a position where you have the best odds to win in high-stakes business.
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After leading Procter & Gamble’s partnerships with digital innovators like Facebook and Google, Dave has helped companies such as Ford Motor Company and Nestle to navigate the landscape of venture capital and Silicon Valley. While some people see entrepreneurship and Fortune 500-type companies as the antithesis of each other, Dave has been able to find the connection between them. In this talk, Knox outlines the best practices for building partnerships between companies big and small and how that connection can change the way we think about what we do every day.
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Disruption and innovation are at the top of every executive agenda for the world’s largest companies. The rise of digital creates tremendous opportunities for companies to embrace innovative new business models. In this talk, Knox guides companies through the digital landscape and how the innovation matrix can spark new ideas for their business.
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