The Leading Speakers Bureau

Global Thought Leader

Rachel Botsman is regarded as the global thought leader on the power of collaboration and sharing through digital technologies to transform the way we live, work, bank and consume. Rachel is designing the first-ever MBA course on the collaborative economy that she will teach at Oxford University Said School of Business in 2015. She is an associate editor for WIRED UK and has a monthly tech trends column in the Australian Financial Review.

“The global thought leader on the collaborative economy”

[expand title=”In detail”] Rachel’s writings and research have featured in the Harvard Business Review, The Economist, CNN, New York Times, The Guardian, The Financial Times, and other publications. E magazine subsequently named Collaborative Consumption one of the ’10 Ideas that Will Change the World’. Rachel was previously a founding partner in the Collaborative Fund, an early stage investor in disruptive ventures, and a former director at President Clinton’s Foundation. Rachel received her BFA (Honors) from the University of Oxford, and undertook her postgraduate studies at Harvard University.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Rachel believes that enduring ideas that can be widely used by people across industries should be grounded in clear frameworks that make complex theories simple. She has spoken to and advised a diverse range of companies on the power of the collaborative economy as lens to view challenges and unlock new opportunities in the world.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Rachel is a dynamic, humorous and thought-provoking speaker who is popular at events all over the world.[/expand]

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Entrepreneur & CEO of Love Home Swap

Debbie Wosskow is an entrepreneur, investor and sharing economy expert. CEO of leading peer-to-peer travel club, Love Home Swap, Debbie is also the founder of the influential Collaborative Consumption Europe networkand led the UK government’s recent review of the Sharing Economy.

“A serial entrepreneur”

[expand title=”In detail”] A former management consultant, Debbie launched her first business, marketing and communications consultancy Mantra, at the age of just 25. Building Mantra over a decade, Debbie sold to the Loewy Group. In addition to her role as CEO of Love Home Swap, Debbie is an active angel investor and sits on a number of advisory boards, as well as being a trustee of Hampstead Theatre. Debbie is a regular commentator on travel, collaborative consumption and entrepreneurship on TV and in print. She graduated with an MA in Philosophy and Theology from New College, Oxford University.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Debbie shares with her audiences her research on the social and economic potential of the sharing economy (including property sharing, time and skill sharing, shared transport and personal items) and offers recommendations on how this potential can be reached. She also looks into the risks to consumers, or established businesses outside the sharing economy.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Debbie Wosskow is a charming, professional speaker whose presentations are interactive, entertaining and highly informative.[/expand]

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Vice President, Search Products & User Experience, Google

Marissa Mayer has been featured in numerous publications, including Newsweek (“10 Tech Leaders of the Future”), Red Herring (“15 Women to Watch”), Business 2.0 (“Silicon Valley Dream Team”), BusinessWeek, and Fast Company. In 2008, at 33, Marissa became the youngest woman ever to be included on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list (#50). She leads Google’s product management efforts on search products – web search, images, news, books, products, maps, Google Earth, Google Toolbar, Google Desktop, Google Health, Google Labs and more.

“A powerful force inside the high-flying company”

[expand title=”In detail”] Graduating with honours, Marissa received her bachelor’s degree in symbolic systems and her master’s degree in computer science from Stanford University. She joined Google in 1999 as Google’s first female engineer and led the user interface and web server teams at that time. Her efforts have included designing and developing Google’s search interface, internationalizing the site to more than 100 languages, defining Google News, Gmail, and Orkut, and launching more than 100 features and products on Google.com. Several patents have been filed on her work in artificial intelligence and interface design. Concurrently with her full-time work at Google, Marissa has taught introductory computer programming classes at Stanford.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Marissa Mayer lives by the old adage that if at first you don’t succeed, try again. In her insightful presentations she pushes aspiring business thinkers to breathe new life into failed ventures, as opposed to cutting the cord. Repackage, rejuvenate, re-market, and re-examine those products or practices you thought would fly, and craft them a new set of wings.

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[expand title=”How she presents”]Keen to uphold her reputation for being highly receptive, Marissa is a great listener and communicator, recognised for her teaching skills at Stanford. [/expand]

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Technology and Business Visionary

Esther Dyson is an authority on emerging digital technology and considered a founding member of Digerati. She is an active angel investor in a variety of start-ups, focusing on technology, health care, human capital and aerospace. Esther is Chairman of EDventure Holdings and since 2013 HiCCup, a startup that will foster and coordinate citywide health intervention programs. In 2008 and 2009, she lived in Star City, Moscow, training as a backup cosmonaut. Apart from this brief sabbatical, she is an active board member for a variety of start-ups.

“Esther Dyson has devoted her life to discovering the inevitable and promoting the possible.”

[expand title=”In detail”] She has a BA in economics from Harvard and was founding chairman of ICANN from 1998 to 2000. In addition, she wrote the best-selling, widely translated book ‘Release 2.0: A Design for Living in the Digital Age’, published in 1997. Her board seats include 23andMe, Airship Ventures, Boxbe, Voxiva, Eventful, Evernote, IBS Group (Russia, advisory board), Meetup, Midentity (UK), NewspaperDirect, Yandex and WPP Group. Some of her other direct IT investments include Flickr and Del.icio.us.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]As an investor and respected commentator, Esther Dyson focuses on the impact of technology, new business models and new emerging markets. Her analysis and predictions on how these factors will affect and shape business today but also in the future provide fascinating insights for corporations all over the world.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Esther Dyson is a regular keynote speaker at major industry events in Europe, including the World Economic Forum in Davos. She likes to combine a short, punchy keynote followed by a lengthy interactive session.[/expand]

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Social Media, Branding and Digital PR Expert

Mel Carson is the founder of the US based consultancy Delightful Communications which helps businesses and individuals understand and successfully apply strategies that focus on Social Media, Digital PR and Personal Branding. Mel also relishes his work as US Brand Ambassador for Majestic SEO, evangelizing the largest publically available link intelligence database and toolset to marketers and advertising professionals.

“A leading expert on Social Media and Digital Marketing”

[expand title=”In detail”] Mel worked for 7 years as Digital Marketing Evangelist at Microsoft Advertising and was responsible for building relationships within the online advertising community. He was also part of the team that planned and executed the UK roll-out of the Microsoft ad Center in 2006 and helped to set up Microsoft’s Advertising Community Team that same year when it became apparent that Social Media Marketing was going to be huge. Mel began career as an editor at the search engine LookSmart in 2000 and was Account Director at 24/7 Search. He lectured on MBA, MSc and marketing courses at Cranfield School of Management and London University. [/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]For well over a decade Mel continues to inspire decision makers around the world from a wide range of businesses to understand and to make the most of the explosion in the use of digital media and technology.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Creative, compelling, emotional, engaging and visionary, Mel’s presentations are highly inspirational as well as practical and resonate deeply with audiences around the globe.[/expand]

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Expert on Leadership Development

Herminia Ibarra is the Cora Chaired Professor of leadership and learning, and Professor of organizational behaviour at INSEAD. Prior to joining INSEAD she served on the Harvard Business School faculty for thirteen years. She is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Women’s Empowerment and chairs the visiting committee of the Harvard Business School. Thinkers 50 ranked Herminia #9 among the most influential business gurus in the world.

“One of the world’s foremost experts on leadership transitions”

[expand title=”In detail”] A native of Cuba, Herminia’s numerous articles are published in leading journals including the Harvard Business Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal and Organization Science. Her research has been profiled in a wide range of media including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times and The Economist. She directs the leadership transition; an executive program designed for managers moving into broader leadership roles, teaches in a variety of INSEAD programs, and consults internationally on talent management and leadership development.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Herminia provides invaluable insights on what is needed to succeed in the global business environment. She shares with audiences her leadership development guidance, which encourages deep self-reflection into strengths and weakness and documents how people can re-invent themselves.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Eloquent and informed, Herminia brings an impressive range of research to the table to support her powerful calls to action. She motivates and inspires audiences worldwide. [/expand]

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