Josh Linkner
Award-Winning Entrepreneur | Creativity Expert
Josh Linkner personifies innovation, entrepreneurship, and breakthrough disruption. Beginning his career as a jazz guitarist, Josh has now been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which sold for a combined value of more than $200 million. Through his inspiring keynotes, Josh delivers a clear call to action — organizations must innovate and disrupt before their competition does.
A New York Times bestselling author, Josh is an internationally recognized expert on innovation, disruption, hyper-growth leadership, and applied creativity. His first book, Disciplined Dreaming: A Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity, became one of the most definitive works on the topic of innovation, and has since been published in 13 languages. His other two books, The Road to Reinvention: How to Drive Disruption and Accelerate Transformation and Hacking Innovation: The New Growth Model from the Sinister World of Hackers, have both received critical acclaim for pushing the boundaries of business leaders worldwide.
Josh is the founding partner of Detroit Venture Partners, where he invests in and/or mentors more than 100 startups. He also serves as chairman and co-founder of Platypus Labs, an innovation research, enablement, and consulting firm.
Josh has twice been named the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year and is a President Barack Obama Champion of Change award recipient. He is a regular columnist for Forbes, The Detroit Free Press, and Inc. His work on innovation has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, CNN, and The New York Times.