Foster a culture of innovation, agility, and ongoing reinvention with bold, practical frameworks from CPG & Direct-to-Customer keynote speaker Josh Linkner.
Key trends and opportunities that Josh helps leaders navigate
As a pioneer of digital and data-driven marketing, Josh has extensive experience in the CPG field, dating back over 25 years. He led groundbreaking digital marketing campaigns for industry titans including The Coca-Cola Company, Conagra Foods, P&G, General Mills, and Kimberly-Clark. Josh helps CPG leaders build cultures of innovation where creative problem-solving and inventive thinking live in every department—from supply chain and operations to R&D and sales.
The DTC Advantage
The CPG leaders gaining ground are reimagining the entire customer relationship. The kind of innovation that doesn’t require a massive R&D budget—just a culture that empowers people to challenge the status quo.
Why Agility Beats Scale
For CPG leaders, this is both a wake-up call and an opportunity. The antidote to disruption is building the entrepreneurial mindset and creative capacity to move fast, stay nimble, and innovate continuously.
The Rise of Retailer-as-Brand
For established brands, the real lesson is about relevance. As shelf space gets more competitive, the companies that invest in distinctive brand identity and genuine consumer connection will be the ones that hold their ground.
Designing for the Nonlinear Consumer
Designing for this reality requires creative problem-solving across every function—operations, supply chain, IT, and the people working the floor. A culture of innovation ensures fresh thinking flows from every corner of the organization.
AI-Powered CPG Innovation
The technology is only as powerful as the culture deploying it. The CPG leaders seeing the biggest returns from AI have built organizations where inventive thinking is everyone’s job—where people at every level feel empowered to experiment, challenge assumptions, and find creative applications for these powerful new tools.
Josh Linkner helps organizations discover and exploit their strengths in a changing business world.
He clearly shows how to reignite innovation and unlock new business value such as speed, agility, persistence, and
partnership."
Alan Boehme
Chief Innovation Officer and Global CTO, The Coca-Cola Company
It was quite literally one of the most motivating and thought-provoking two hours of my professional career.
Robert Cunningham
Vice President, Heineken
Hi, I'm Josh.
Josh Linkner — a New York Times bestselling author — is a rare blend of business, art, and science.
On the business front, he’s been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which created over 10,000 jobs and sold for a combined value of over $200 million.
He’s the co-founder and Managing Partner of Muditā Venture Partners - an early-stage venture capital firm investing in groundbreaking technologies.
Over the last 30 years, he’s helped over 100 startups launch and scale, creating over $1 billion in investor returns. He’s twice been named the EY Entrepreneur of The Year and is the recipient of the United States Presidential Champion of Change Award.
As a pioneer of digital and data-driven marketing, Josh has extensive experience in the CPG & Direct-to-Customer field dating back 25 years. He led groundbreaking digital marketing campaigns for industry titans such as The Coca-Cola Company, Conagra Foods, P&G, General Mills, and Kimberly-Clark and has worked with senior CPG leaders to foster a culture of innovation and ongoing reinvention.
While proud of his business success, his roots are in the dangerous world of jazz music. He’s been playing guitar in smoky jazz clubs for 40 years, studied at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, and has performed over 1000 concerts around the world.
His experiences in both business and music led him to become one of the world’s foremost experts on innovation. Josh is the co-founder and Chairman of Platypus Labs, a global research, training, and consulting firm.
Today, he’s on a mission to help leaders Find A Way™ through creative problem-solving, inventive thinking, and ingenuity.
Keynote Topics
+ Outcomes
Find A WayTM
Every problem can be solved, and every opportunity can be seized. Through a proven innovative framework, you'll discover new paths to explosive growth, competitive advantage, and sustainable results.
Expand organization-wide capability for creative problem-solving and inventive thinking.
Big Little BreakthroughsTM
Instead of high-risk moonshots, the most innovative leaders cultivate a high volume of ‘micro-innovations’ and build a culture of everyday innovation.
Gain the tools to become an everyday innovator.
The Music of Business
What business leaders can learn about agility, collaboration, creativity, and performance under pressure from the mysterious world of jazz.
Inject artistry and agility into your business through an unforgettable, interactive experience.
*Please note this topic requires additional talent + gear. Accordingly, additional costs apply.
The Innovative Leader
Become an unstoppable force by unlocking your and your team's ingenuity, gaining confidence, and boosting results in times of dramatic uncertainty and disruption.
Elevate your capacity to lead and win in volatile times.
Disciplined DreamingTM
A proven system for driving breakthrough creativity. Learn how to balance raw imagination with business rigor to achieve profound and predictable results.
Boost creativity and rigor simultaneously to achieve better outcomes.
Rethink. Reboot.
Reinvent.
The business you’ll be running in five years will be dramatically different than today. Unlock the definitive playbook on reinvention, relevancy, and sustainable success.
Gain the confidence to venture into the unknown and thrive, no matter what the future brings.
Innovation in the Age of AI
A modern framework to unlock sustained profitable growth at the intersection of technology and human creativity.
Josh shows you how the path forward involves integrating human creativity with artificial intelligence to thrive amidst uncertainty, rapid change, and disruption.
For CPG & Direct-to-Customer Meeting Professionals
5 Ways Josh Turns Your Event Up To "11"
Sparks a mindset & movement.
His authentic, relatable, research-backed content - with real-world case studies and a high-energy delivery - will inspire your audience to uncover and activate new opportunities every day.
Moves your team into action.
Your audience will not only be energized, motivated, and inspired, they’ll become better equipped with specific tools, frameworks, and techniques to drive meaningful results in the months and years ahead.
Handcrafted, not canned.
Josh takes the time to listen deeply before custom-building a keynote experience just for you. This ensures that every minute is on-point, relevant, and targeted to your unique challenges and opportunities.
Real and accessible.
Josh applies Find A Way™ principles in his everyday work as a leader, venture capitalist, musician, and author. Leaders inspired by his keynote often reach out to him for help finding a way in their everyday work.
Impact - 11, Drama - 0.
Coming from a place of humility and service, Josh believes that a great keynote is about the audience, not the speaker. Meeting professionals often call Josh one of the best keynote speakers to work with.