Dave Knox
- Co-founded The Brandery
- Former CMO Rockfish / WPP Ventures
- Executive Marketing Coach.
Dave Knox Speaker Biography
Dave Knox is a leading consultant, speaker, and coach in the areas of innovation, marketing, and digital transformation. He’s asked to share his expertise by some of the world’s largest companies and most innovative startups.
As a brand marketer, venture investor, and startup advisor, Dave Knox bridges the world between the Fortune 500 and entrepreneurship. The intersection of these two worlds is the subject of his book, Predicting the Turn: The High Stakes Game of Business Between Startups and Blue Chips, which was named the Grand Prix winner of the 2017 Atticus Award.
Dave is the former Chief Marketing Officer for Rockfish, a widely recognized digital innovation agency that was acquired by WPP, where he also served as the Managing Director for WPP Ventures. Before Rockfish, Knox was a seven-year veteran of Procter & Gamble, where he was instrumental in the digital turnaround that led to P&G being named to AdAge’s Digital A-List.
Dave was named to the iMedia 25 Class of Digital Innovators, a Cincinnati Marketing Legend by the AMA, CMO of the Year in the inaugural Business Courier C-Suite Awards, and 40 Under 40 by both AdAge and the P&G Alumni Network.
Dave is a frequent keynote speaker on digital innovation and disruption, including appearances at SXSW, TEDx, Back End of Innovation, NRFtech, Brand Innovators, AdTech NYC, and the iMedia Summit.
He is the co-founder of The Brandery — one of the top 10 startup accelerators in the country. Dave is also a Managing Partner in the seed fund Vine St. Ventures, and an advisor to Bullpen Capital, Glasswing Ventures, and Hyde Park Venture Partners. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Cincinnati Mercantile Library, and Main St. Ventures.
In his latest entrepreneurial journey, Dave is the CEO of Nature’s Willow, a leading natural pain relief brand he acquired in 2019. Dave holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Miami University, where he is also the co-founder of the Cradle of Marketers.
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Speech Topics
Predicting the Turn When The Game Changes
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.
Takeaways include:
• How to analyze the Second Order Consequences of today’s environment for your own business.
• Why more than half of the Fortune 500 were founded during a recession or bear stock market.
• How companies and employees can adopt a mindset of Continuous Beta.
Predicting the Turn
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 by 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.
Takeaways include:
• Case studies of companies that succeeded or failed at innovation
• Techniques for future-proofing your company
• Ways to engage disruptors
Digital Innovation
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.
Takeaways include:
• Models for innovation
• Techniques for building an innovation mindset inside an organization
Partnership for Innovation
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.
Takeaways include:
• Common mistakes Fortune 500s make with startups
• How startups view larger corporations
• Do/don’t guidelines of succeeding with startups
Top Takeaways from all of Dave’s Presentations:
• The world of business you will play in tomorrow doesn’t look like the world of business you grew up in.
• There are cascading effects playing out in the world of business that isn’t in front of you but will be.
• It’s the responsibility of all business leaders to think of the mindset of continuous data for not only companies but themselves.
