Start your event
with a healthy dose
of simplicity

There isn’t an organization on earth that can’t be improved through the power of simplicity. All it takes is a little inspiration.

That’s something I got a lot of during my years as Steve Jobs’ ad guy. For Steve, simplicity wasn’t just about products. It was something he demanded at every level of the company. You can see that in Apple’s hardware, software, internal processes, marketing, packaging, work environment, even the corporate org chart. Simplicity creates motivated employees, loyal customers and ultimately greater profits.

I’m a storyteller. My keynotes reflect my personal experiences working in Steve’s world (both amusing and frightening!), as well as the business philosophies of business leaders I’ve interviewed around the world. My goal is to show the audience how great leaders leverage the power of simplicity—and how any business can embrace the same principles.

I’ve now spoken at more than a hundred events focused on marketing, management and innovation. I’ve done keynotes for companies as diverse as Ikea, Intel, Accenture, Nationwide Insurance, Oracle, Deloitte, Dell, Tourism Australia, Warner Home Entertainment and Humira. (See a more complete list at the bottom of this page.)

My interactions with people around the world have convinced me of one thing: simplicity is a universal language. Every business needs more of it. It is the untapped potential that lies within every organization.

Insanely Simple

Creating ads for Steve Jobs was exciting, intense, scary, empowering and fun. Most important, it was a learning experience. I witnessed firsthand how the love of simplicity can create better products, fanatic customers, and more fulfilled employees. 

In this talk, I shine a light on the elements of simplicity that have driven the success of Apple and other companies, enabling them to outthink their competitors. I’ve got plenty of fascinating behind-the-scenes stories to share, all of which support my thesis: Simplicity is the most powerful force in business—and it’s something that any person or company can put to work today.

Inside Apple Advertising

Apple has long been the gold standard for advertising creativity, quality and effectiveness. That’s because Steve Jobs was as uncompromising in his ads as he was in his products.

Here, I focus on some of Apple’s more famous advertising moments, taking the audience behind the scenes to understand the sometimes-crazy road from concept to air. I share stories about strategies, creative development and product. If great marketing is your quest, it helps to hear how some great campaigns were born.

Working the Steve Jobs Way

Steve was exactly as advertised—often incredibly difficult to work for—but he was also one of the most effective business leaders in history. It was Steve’s mix of talent and personality that allowed him to lead Apple from the brink of extinction to unimaginable success on a global scale.

In this talk, I take a closer look at Steve’s management style, illuminating principles that anyone can adopt to motivate employees, make better products and streamline complicated companies. 

Branding the Steve Jobs Way

Steve Jobs believed that Apple’s most important asset was its brand. He demanded that every product, every ad and every decision serve to enhance the brand. He knew that this was the key to attracting customers and keeping them loyal. 

This talk focuses on how to build an amazing brand, Steve Jobs-style—how to focus, align the workforce, shun complexity and create a brand that only becomes deeper and more profitable over time. 

My Right Foot

This is my most personal speech. It’s about finding a new way to succeed after suffering a spirit-crushing failure. For me, it was having to abandon my dream of becoming a successful drummer. I blame the failure on my right foot (long story), but I also credit this soul-sucking experience as the catalyst to finding a career that kindled an even greater passion inside.

Steve Jobs once said you can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking back. The secret is being more fluid and adventurous about your future path, and learning to trust your “career DNA”—the fusion of your skills, dreams and passions.

This talk is about turning weakness into strength, turning failure into success and turning chance into opportunity. It’s about navigating the journey to professional fulfillment.

Recent keynotes: Disney Entertainment Television (Los Angeles), JustEat (London), Digital Agenda Summit (Nicosia, Cyprus), Allianz (Marbella, Spain & Munich), Guardant (Redwood City, CA), Criteo (New York), Deep Mind (London), Duracell (London), Global Inspiring Forum (Kyiv, Ukraine), L’Oreal (Levallois-Perret, France), VMware (Mexico City), Clarity Benefit Solutions (New Jersey), EXMA (Quito, Ecuador), Marketing 2020 (Guayaquil, Ecuador), Sabre (Barcelona), E-Commerce Forum (Dammam, Saudi Arabia), Euler Hermes (Paris), MHP & Phillip Morris, (Kyiv, Ukraine), Sabre (Santa Barbara, CA), Marketing Conference (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic), BNP Paribas (Paris), Herbert Smith Freehills (Sydney, Melbourne & Brisbane, Australia), Dialog Conference (Stromstad, Sweden), EXMA (Colombia, Bolivia and Panama), FinTrust (Greenville, SC), American Marketing Assoc. (Kalamazoo, MI), American Advertising Federation (Greenville, SC, Baton Rouge, LA & Des Moines, IA), University of Washington (Seattle), World Intelligent Manufacturing Summit (Nanjing, China), Calik Denim (Amsterdam), Jahia Software (Paris), Trove Conference (Ann Arbor, MI), Branding Symposium (The Maldives), Philip Morris (Lausanne, Switzerland), KCCI Forum (Jeju, South Korea), Tigo Convention (Guatemala), Schibsted NEXT (Madrid), Westpac Bank (Sydney), Electronic Arts (Redwood City, CA), U.S. Treasury (Washington, DC), iStrategy (London, Sydney, Miami), BBVA (Madrid), TEDx (NY), Dell (Round Rock, TX), University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ), American Advertising Federation (Madison, WI), Telenor (Copenhagen), Costa Coffee (London), P&G (Panama City), Nationwide Insurance (Columbus, OH), CIO Connect (London), ANZ Bank (Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide), University of Technology (Sydney), Humira (San Diego), Intel Corp. (Santa Clara, CA), Design Day (Oslo), Fund Forum Asia (Hong Kong), Eurofinance (Dublin), Nordic Business Forum (Helsinki), World Strategy Forum (Seoul), Oracle (Bogota), Entrepreneurs Day (Guadalajara, Mexico), Warner Home Entertainment (London), Bank of Melbourne (Melbourne), Super Return Asia (Hong Kong), Law Society of Scotland (Edinburgh), Brazil’s Customer Festival (Sao Paulo), Lattelecom (Riga, Latvia), SparkLabs Conference (Seoul), StepStone (Berlin), NASSCOM (Mumbai), Super Content Marketing (Stockholm), Innovation & Disruption Conference (London), Performance Marketing Insights (Berlin), SLASSCOM (Colombo, Sri Lanka), IKEA (Älmhult, Sweden), Deakin University Business School (Melbourne), GeneXus (Montevideo, Uruguay), Colt Technology (Amsterdam), Marketing Trends (Asunción, Paraguay), Expo Business (Bogota), Accenture (Chicago), Marketing Summit (Guatemala City), GS1 (Mexico City), Management & Business Summit (Madrid), Dialog Conference (Stockholm), Otsuka (Princeton, NJ), Simon (Madrid), World Business Forum (Bogota, Sydney, Milan), Booking.com (Amsterdam), Brand Week (Istanbul), Delotte (New York City), Tourism Australia (Sydney), Congress of Marketing (Montevideo, Uruguay), Mexican Insurance Association (Mexico City), CMO Japan (Tokyo), Entrepreneurs Week (Mexico City), BOLD Conference (Vilnius, Lithuania), Metro (Istanbul), Innovations Kongress (Klagenfurt, Austria).