Making Ideas Happen

Thursday, March 22 | 8:30 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.

Sponsored by Technogym

Mom always told us not to talk to strangers, but are there really any strangers today? Five years ago it was unthinkable to flag down a random car and hop in for a ride, but today, with the use of technology, we don’t hesitate in sharing rides with people we don’t know. We are willing to hire a handyman through an app, such as TaskRabbit, and we are renting out rooms in our own houses to people we’ve never met before. How did the sharing economy begin and what will it evolve to next? In this dynamic speech, Busque will share her story of starting TaskRabbit and why 2008 was a pinnacle for the beginning of the sharing economy. Over the last 8 years, this new trend has evolved into mainstream adoption and continues to grow and scale in new ways that are changing the future of work. Busque will explore how businesses, large and small, will need to evolve to support this new fragmented workforce, and how, despite the skeptics, providing more flexibility and entrepreneurship in our work environments will drive innovation, support diversity, and ultimately translate to stronger, longer lasting companies.

Leah Busque has 15 years experience building and creating technology products that have reached millions of people around the globe. She started her career at IBM as a software engineer, where she worked on Lotus Notes and Domino. In 2008 Busque founded TaskRabbit, the world’s leading on-demand service marketplace. After serving as the CEO for eight years, she is now the executive chairwoman of the company.

Under Busque’s leadership, TaskRabbit has expanded internationally and raised nearly $50 million in venture funding. The New York Times named TaskRabbit “The Next Big Thing in Tech.”

Busque’s vision for revolutionizing the way people work and “service networking” has inspired legions of startups to launch in the collaborative and service networking space. Fast Company named her one of the “100 Most Creative People in Business,” and her achievements have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Wired, and Time.

Busque is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Forum of Young Global Leaders, a global network of under-40 entrepreneurs who’s bold, brave, action-oriented ventures are furthering social and economic progress.

Harnessing Innovation: Turning Raw Ideas into Powerful Results

Friday, March 23 | 8:30 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.

Sponsored by Matrix Fitness

As a four-time successful tech entrepreneur and investor in dozens of startups, Josh Linkner has seen thousands of companies loaded with creative buzz and big ideas. How is it that some harness their imagination to create game-changing drivers of growth and innovation while others miss the mark? The answer: the best companies have a systematic process to focus their team’s creativity into practical outputs — something Linkner discovered by founding and building companies that collectively sold for over $200 million. As a professional-level jazz guitarist, Linkner blends the improvisational qualities of a jazz ensemble with bleeding-edge business savvy to bring a completely fresh perspective on unleashing creativity in the organization. His inspiring presentation delivers practical tools that can be used immediately to increase creative output and deliver bottom-line results. You’ll learn to:

• Use specific techniques to harness your most powerful ideas
• Apply creativity on a daily basis across all business activities and roles
• Break free from the three biggest blockers of creativity
• Apply best practices from the world’s most innovative companies
• Avoid the five biggest creativity killers
• Master the three most powerful brainstorming techniques that you’ve never even heard of
• Build a culture that celebrates fresh thinking and embraces new ideas

Josh Linkner has spent his career harnessing the power of creative disruption. As the founder and CEO of five successful tech companies, Linkner built his businesses from blueprints to million-dollar operations. In addition to his own startups, Linkner has been involved with the launch, growth or financing of more than 100 other companies and has mentored leaders and entrepreneurs through the opportunities and challenges of explosive growth.

He is also an award-winning digital marketer. As the founder and CEO of ePrize, Linkner built the world’s largest digital promotions agency, which served 74 of the world’s 100 most powerful brands. Linkner travels the globe inspiring audiences with his fresh insights on innovation, creativity and hyper-growth leadership, as well as proven business strategies that drive meaningful outcomes. He is also a two-time New York Times bestselling-author of three books: Disciplined Dreaming: A Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity, The Road to Reinvention: How to Drive Disruption and Accelerate Transformation, and Hacking Innovation: The New Growth Model from the Sinister World of Hackers.