BRAND MINDS ticket prices go up on February 16
Ticket prices to BRAND MINDS 2023 go up on February 16 so hurry up and book your tickets at special prices today!
Business leaders from 80 countries meet at BRAND MINDS, in 2023, the biggest business event in Central and Eastern Europe.
Over 7000 professionals and industry leaders are expected to join this year’s edition to access the ultimate insights and tactics in business strategy.
CEOs, Entrepreneurs, Marketing & Sales Managers and HR Directors bring their teams to BRAND MINDS to learn from the most respected business experts in the world:
- SALES STRATEGY
- INNOVATION & CREATIVITY
- TEAM MANAGEMENT
- BUSINESS STRATEGY
- MARKETING
- RISK MANAGEMENT
- TECH INNOVATION
- PERSONAL LEADERSHIP
THE BEST GLOBAL BUSINESS THINKERS share the hottest growth strategies in business at BRAND MINDS 2023
Bestselling Author of Atomic Habits James Clear is a world-famous expert in habit formation.
His weekly newsletter is one of the most popular in the world inspiring over 2 million people monthly.
Join BRAND MINDS 2023 and learn:
- 3 ways to form better habits and stick to them;
- What is the power of tiny gains and how to use them for continuous improvement;
- How to design the life & career you want through habit systems;
- How to achieve meaningful results without overwhelming yourself.
Successful professionals are not risk-avoidant; they are great assessors of risk and learn how to turn adversity into an advantage.
Author & Risk Analyst Nassim Nicholas Taleb spent 21 years as a risk taker and has advised heads of state, top financial institutions, and various central banks on tail risks.
Join BRAND MINDS 2023 and learn:
- The 6 mistakes executives make in risk management;
- Why Big Data brings more risks than it solves;
- How to take risks you understand, instead of trying to understand the risks you are taking;
- Why business owners should study risk-taking, not risk management.
Bestselling Author of Blue Ocean Strategy Renée Mauborgne is the first woman ever to secure the #1 spot on the Thinkers50 list of global thought leaders.
Awarded leadership thinker, she is the co-director of the INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute and a Fellow of the World Economic Forum and Davos.
Join BRAND MINDS 2023 and learn:
- The framework for creating a blue ocean for your business;
- Essential tools & templates to outcompete bigger companies;
- Key steps to uncover untapped business growth opportunities.
With over 20 years of experience in digital marketing, Neil Patel’s insights and amazing tools have helped 5000+ companies scale up, including Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Airbnb, and Google.
The digital marketing tools that Neil has created (Hello Bar, Ubersuggest, SEO Analyzer, Backlink Checker, AI Rewriting Tool, and Website Traffic Checker) are currently receiving over 600 million monthly queries.
Join BRAND MINDS 2023 and learn:
- 5 powerful SEO lessons;
- 7 practical content marketing tips;
- Neil Patel’s Top 5 favourite growth marketing frameworks;
- How to build an ultra-engaged audience that will also buy.
Future of Work Strategy Expert @ London Business School Lynda Gratton has developed key frameworks to build high-performing teams.
Her programme ‘Human Resource Strategy in Transforming Companies’ is considered one of the world’s leading programmes on developing people and organisations.
Her research and insights are the foundation for Japan’s resources development revolution launched by the government in 2017.
Join BRAND MINDS 2023 and learn:
- The top 3 skills a team leader needs to build a highly engaged team;
- How to create efficient frameworks to build a high-performing team;
- How to reimagine creative, new approaches to the development of company culture;
- Discover the most frequent mistakes leaders make that result in low team engagement.
World Famous Sales Expert Blair Singer has trained 200.000+ sales professionals and corporations on how to increase their sales, skills and income.
In the early 2000s, the demand for his teaching was so great that in less than ten days, he circumnavigated the planet twice in opposite directions!
Join BRAND MINDS 2023 and learn:
- 1 simple, time-proven process of selling that will generate great income for most businesses in any industry;
- The 5 most important selling skills to master;
- How to overcome any objection;
- How to choose the best professionals for your star sales team.
Tech Leadership Expert Anne-Marie Imafidon is one of Britain’s most influential women in tech.
In recognition of her services to STEM sectors (science, technology, engineering, and maths), she was awarded an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire), the third highest order of the British Empire.
Join BRAND MINDS 2023 and learn:
- Key A.I.-driven tools leaders can use to adapt to the future of work;
- 5 key strategies to select the right people working with technology in your company;
- How to leverage the power of A.I., data science and machine learning to increase revenue.
Duncan Wardle teaches leaders how to build an innovation-driven employee culture.
He led the Innovation and Creativity department at Disney increasing the company’s capacity to innovate at scale. He was amazingly successful and realized his goal of transforming Disney into one of the world’s most creative and innovative companies.
In recognition of Duncan’s unique approach to innovation and creativity, he was awarded by The White House and Queen Elizabeth II.
Join BRAND MINDS 2023, on Day2 and learn:
- 8 creative behaviours and how to use them to think more creatively;
- 5 lateral thinking tools allowing your team to innovate;
- How to outperform your competition by challenging the rules of your industry;
- Frameworks for creating a sustainable culture of innovation and creativity throughout your organization.
5 benefits of attending BRAND MINDS 2023
- Network with decision-makers at 300+ Top Companies
- Meet world-famous business thinkers
- Enjoy the most memorable team building of 2023
- Reconnect with all your partners in a premium business event
- Boost your professional brand with the BRAND MINDS certificate
BRAND MINDS 2023 is your unmissable opportunity to get unique frameworks and strategies to prepare your company for the future.
Learn with your team how to build a winning strategy for your company at BRAND MINDS 2023!
8 must-read stories about our speakers for 2023
James Clear – from nearly dying when he was 15 to holding several sports records before graduation
On the last day of tenth grade, James Clear took a full-force baseball bat in the face from one of his classmates: the bat had accidentally slipped from his hands and hit James right between his eyes.
The accident was horrific: the blow crushed the bones in his nose causing instant swelling in his brain. He had multiple skull fractures, a swollen nose and shattered eye sockets. He gave wrong answers when asked by the school nurse what year they were in and what President was in office. It took him ten seconds to remember his mother’s name. After that, he lost consciousness and was rushed to the emergency room.
Shortly after he arrived at the hospital, his body collapsed: he stopped breathing and was hooked to a ventilation machine. The seizures started. The hospital wasn’t equipped to manage his particular situation so he was flown to a bigger hospital where he was placed into an induced coma and underwent emergency surgery to reconstruct his skull.
The surgery was successful, but the recuperation was long and difficult. He had always dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player and that dream seemed impossible to achieve now. Still, he was determined to get his life back.
Six years after the accident, he became the best male player at his university and was selected for ESPN’s Academic All-America Team, a unique recognition enjoyed by only 33 athletes in the country.
By the time he graduated, James had records in eight different sports categories. He received the Presidential Medal, the highest honour in academia.
He achieved all that after discovering the power of good habits and putting together a system of meeting goals. He never realized his dream of playing in a professional baseball team, but what he did was more important than that: he realized his potential.
Learn how tiny habits can lead to remarkable results in life and career from Bestselling Author of ‘Atomic Habits’ James Clear, at BRAND MINDS 2023.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb‘s first two books almost didn’t get published
Nassim Taleb has confessed in a recent article that writing was a childhood dream. He had always wanted to produce literature. Nothing surprising about that. Except for the fact that his idea of literature was quite unique.
According to Taleb, “literature should not have explicit boundaries”, a point of view which you can imagine, didn’t go well with publishing houses. His first book, ‘Fooled by Randomness’ was, in his own words, “practically impossible to publish”. The book was a collection of autobiography, philosophy (of probability), mathematics, inductive logic, musings on historical events and financial markets and parables with fictional characters. Publishing houses said the book confused the reader.
“What’s wrong with confusing the reader?”Taleb answered them unwaveringly in his determination to resist every attempt of editing coming from editors at publishing houses.
Why? Because he wanted to write his own version of literature, one freed from the limitations of subject and style. This led to his books gaining an aura of ‘unpublishable’ status and Taleb receiving many rejection letters in which editors described with an abundance of details how the books would fail. At that time, book publishing was still a type of business where local bookstores were an important part of the ecosystem.
While Taleb was struggling to get his books published in Europe, in the US, a new disruptive force was rising: Amazon. Amazon’s ability to connect authors to readers in other parts of the world convinced Taleb to leverage its power and gain awareness and readership.
Becoming antifragile in a world dominated by uncertainty and risks is essential for the survival of the company.
Renée Mauborgne has created 20 strategy tools to help businesses adopt the Blue Ocean Strategy
Blue Ocean Strategy is based on a 10-year study of strategic business moves across 30 industries.
What prompted this study?
Seeing American companies lose customers and market shares, in the early 1990s, to a new competitor who was coming from outside of the country: Japanese companies.
Global competition was changing everything for companies anywhere in the world. The markets were becoming crowded. For the first time since World War II, demand didn’t exceed supply. Businesses were entering a new era and the old business strategies were becoming obsolete. It was time to design new business strategies.
Renée Mauborgne’s and Chan W Kim’s Blue Ocean Strategy concept was powerful and research-based and was soon embraced by millions of executives around the world. But while they saw the value of the strategy, they didn’t know how to adopt it. That’s when Renée and Chan created templates and frameworks to help businesses shift from red oceans to blue oceans.
These strategy tools are: Value Innovation, Strategy Canvas, Buyer Utility Map, Three Tiers of Noncustomers, Six Paths Frameworks, Four Actions Framework, ERRC Grid, PMS Map, Price Corridor of the Mass, Sequence of Creating a Blue Ocean, Five steps to a Blue Ocean Shift, Three Components of a Blue Ocean Shift, Three Components of Humanness, Four Hurdles to Strategy Execution, Fair Process, Tipping Point Leadership, Blue Ocean Leadership v Conventional Leadership, Leadership Canvas, Leadership Grid and Costs of Disengaged Employees.
At BRAND MINDS 2023, Bestselling Author of ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ & ‘Blue Ocean Shift’ Renée Mauborgne taught participants how to uncover new markets and create exceptional business growth.
Neil Patel began learning digital marketing at 18 to market his company
Growing up, Neil Patel was surrounded by family members running multiple companies and being successful entrepreneurs. When he was a little boy, he was always thinking about what he could do to become an entrepreneur. He did odd jobs for a while like selling vacuums or working at a grocery store.
Not yet 18, he started his first company, a job board, called Advice Monkey. He quickly realized that if the company was to be successful, he had to market the company’s website on the internet.
He hired an internet marketing firm to promote his company and fired them a few months later when the firm didn’t deliver any results. Neil went on to hire two more marketing firms with the same result: they took his money but didn’t deliver results. Since all three marketing firms couldn’t bring him relevant results, he decided to learn digital marketing and market the company himself.
Fast forward two decades and Neil Patel is one of the world’s most experienced digital marketing experts. His website neilpatel.com is one of the top 10 marketing blogs in the world and has been selected by President Obama in the Top 100 entrepreneurs under the age of 30.
At BRAND MINDS participants learned how to reach more customers from Digital Marketing Expert Neil Patel, live, on stage.
Lynda Gratton’s insights and vision helped Japan design a new human resources strategy for its citizens of all ages
‘The 100-Year Life’, Lynda Gratton’s book about longevity and societal change was published in 2016 and earned modest sales. But when the translated version was published in Japan a few months later, it quickly went on to become a national bestseller. The country with the world’s highest number of senior citizens acknowledged the issues presented in the book and recognized the immediate need to design a nationwide strategy for its people.
In September 2017, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe established the Council for Designing 100-Year Life Society whose goal was to create a society in which all citizens are dynamically engaged and equally contributing to the country’s development. Lynda Gratton accepted his invitation to serve on the Council and help him outline a revolutionary human resource strategy to reform the work style of the Japanese people and increase productivity.
The Council’s reforms have yielded positive results: they introduced the concept of lifelong learning, future of work and increased employment rate among senior citizens.
Learning new strategies for employee engagement and retention from Future of Work Strategy Expert at London Business School Lynda Gratton was highly appreciated by participants at BRAND MINDS 2023.
Anne-Marie Imafidon made history in England when she became the youngest girl ever to pass A-level Computing at the age 11
And she was only 20 when she got her master’s in Maths and Computer Science from the University of Oxford. She worked for a number of investment banks but then in 2013 set up Stemettes, an award-winning social initiative, dedicated to inspiring and promoting the next generation of young women in the STEM sectors.
She was 27 when she was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for her services in UK tech. Other MBE holders are multiple Grammy winners Adele and Ed Sheeran.
At 30, she was voted the most influential woman in tech in the UK by Computer Weekly. She has 6 honorary doctorates, is the President of the British Science Association and was listed as one of the BBC’s 100 inspirational and innovative women. She has achieved what others achieve in a lifetime and she is only 32.
How did this extraordinary life begin?
Anne-Marie was born in London, to Nigerian parents, the eldest of five children. Education was very important to her parents. She grew up in a progressive environment where she and her siblings were allowed to experiment with everything. One of her earliest memories is playing on her dad’s computer when she was four or taking apart the VCR to see where her favourite animation characters came from.
Drawing from her wealth of knowledge and experience, Tech Leadership Expert Anne-Marie Imafidon has seen how Artificial Intelligence is influencing the future of work and the business environment and had unique insights to share with participants at BRAND MINDS 2023.
Blair Singer has been advising Robert Kiyosaki on sales for over 25 years
Blair Singer first met Rich Dad Poor Dad Bestselling author Robert Kiyosaki in 1980 when they were both struggling entrepreneurs.
Blair became a Rich Dad Advisor in the early 1990s. The team was originally assembled by Robert Kiyosaki to provide him with business and investing advice. Blair’s role in the team is that of the Business & Sales Expert. The team meets once a week and Blair’s responsibility is to teach Robert and the rest of the team about sales.
You could say that seasoned experts like Robert Kiyosaki and Blair Singer don’t need to learn anything new and you would be wrong. The Rich Dad Poor Dad Advising team nurtures a culture of continuous learning. Every member of the team is both a teacher and a student. Because no one knows everything because knowledge has been growing exponentially.
That’s why it’s essential for professionals, juniors or seniors to keep learning from experts and each other.
World Famous Sales Expert Blair Singer shared his proven sales process to increase sales.
Duncan Wardle convinced NASA to send Buzz Lightyear, the beloved Toy Story character…into space
‘Toy Story’ was Disney’s one of the most successful and highest-grossing animation films of all time. In 2008, a new attraction based on the film was launching at Disney Parks and Duncan Wardle and his team were tasked with promoting the new experience.
A fan of ‘Toy Story’, Duncan knew that Buzz Lightyear’s dream was to fly into space. Though nothing but a toy, many girls and boys loved Buzz and shared his dream. Why not realize his dream and show every boy and girl that if a toy can do it, they can do it too and they should keep dreaming about it?, thought Duncan.
But how are they going to get NASA’s approval on this “crazy” project? By finding and solving one of the agency’s pain points. At the time, NASA had many challenges they were struggling to overcome one of which was the waning interest of Americans in space exploration. Little interest meant little to no funding from Congress. So Duncan pitched the heads of NASA that sending Buzz Lightyear to space was a great way to introduce a new generation of kids to space travel and to build interest in STEM skills for youths across the country. NASA agreed and Buzz Lightyear spent almost one year and a half in space at the International Space Station firing the imagination of kids and grown-ups alike through contests, learning games and many other activities. The project was a huge success!
What amazing achievements could your team unlock? Participants discovered first hand at Duncan Wardle’s Innovation & Design Thinking Masterclass, on Day 2 of BRAND MINDS 2023.
BRAND MINDS is the complete business training your team needs to supercharge your company’s scale-up.
Share these stories with your team leader.
12 business tactics & lessons to grow your company
Learn 12 business tactics from BRAND MINDS’ global business thinkers and speakers, to grow your company and upgrade your business strategy.
Renée Mauborgne on the business strategy aspects Facebook, Uber and Amazon failed to implement correctly while creating a blue ocean market:
Blair Singer on the various types of salespersons and why they are successful:
Duncan Wardle on why developing a creative culture is paramount in business:
Disruptive technologies for the future of business with Anne-Marie Imafidon:
Neil Patel on how to use Instagram to get more customers:
How to effectively take action with Blair Singer:
Lynda Gratton on how employers create a work environment in this new world of employment that inspires creativity and productivity:
Nassim Nicholas Taleb on why you should study risk-taking, not risk-management:
Nassim Nicholas Taleb on what it means to have skin in the game:
Neil Patel on the biggest shifts in marketing:
Renée Mauborgne on why you should stop looking at the competition and letting them drive your strategies:
Duncan Wardle on the biggest barrier to innovation:
14 talks about top performance & business growth
Are you looking for insights on top performance & business growth?
Here are 14 talks featuring the BRAND MINDS 2023 speakers sharing their insights on habits, the new way of working, technology, marketing, sales, creativity and more.
14 talks about top performance & business growth
Building & changing habits with James Clear of “Atomic Habits”
YouTube Ads: Why is it not working and what to do with Neil Patel
New Ways of Working with Lynda Gratton
What’s Your Blue Ocean Strategy? Make Your Competition Irrelevant with Author Renée Mauborgne
3 reasons why your lookalike audience isn’t converting with Neil Patel
Creating new, empowering habits with James Clear
5 tips to think like a millionaire with Blair Singer
Keeping your PR creative, imaginative, curious and intuitive with Disney’s Duncan Wardle
Nassim Nicholas Taleb on Skin in the Game
Women in Engineering Day with Anne-Marie Imafidon
Move Beyond Competing with Renée Mauborgne
How to build awesome habits with James Clear
How to price correctly with Neil Patel
Why you should redesign your HR strategy with Lynda Gratton
20 great business books to scale your business
Here are the 20 great business books you should read this year to scale your business fast:
- Blue Ocean Strategy: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
- Blue Ocean Shift: Beyond Competing – Proven Steps to Inspire Confidence and Seize New Growth
- Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
- The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
- Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life
- Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
- Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder
- The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms
- Hustle: The Power to Charge Your Life with Money, Meaning, and Momentum
- She’s in CTRL
- The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity
- Redesigning Work: How to Transform Your Organisation and Make Hybrid Work for Everyone
- The Shift: The Future of Work is already here
- The New Long Life: A Framework for Flourishing in a Changing World
- Glow: How you can radiate energy, innovation and success
- The Key: How Corporations Succeed by Solving the World’s Toughest Problems
- The Exceptional Manager: Making the Difference
- Hot Spots: Why some companies buzz with energy and innovation – and others don’t
- Sales Dogs: You Don’t Have to be an Attack Dog to Explode Your Income
- Little Voice Mastery: How to Win the War Between Your Ears in 30 Seconds or Less and Have an Extraordinary Life
These books are bestsellers written by global business thinkers speaking at BRAND MINDS 2023.
Blue Ocean Strategy: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, by Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
Recognized as one of the most iconic and impactful strategy books ever written, Blue Ocean Strategy argues that cutthroat competition results in nothing but a bloody red ocean of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool.
Based on a study of 150 strategic moves, spanning more than 100 years across 30 industries, the authors, Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne show that lasting success comes not from battling competitors but from creating “blue oceans” — untapped new market spaces ripe for growth.
Embraced by organizations and industries worldwide, Blue Ocean Strategy is a global phenomenon that has sold over 4 million copies, is published in a record-breaking 47 languages and is a bestseller across five continents. First published in 2005, it was updated and expanded with fresh content in 2015.
Blue Ocean Strategy will teach you:
- What is distinctive about Blue Ocean Strategy as a theory;
- How is Blue Ocean Strategy different from a classic differentiation strategy or a low-cost strategy;
- How to reconstruct market boundaries;
- Why you need to focus on the big picture;
- How to reach beyond existing demand;
- How to overcome organizational hurdles;
- How to build execution into strategy.
Blue Ocean Shift: Beyond Competing – Proven Steps to Inspire Confidence and Seize New Growth by Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
‘Blue Ocean Shift’ is the indispensable and much-anticipated follow-up to ’Blue Ocean Strategy’. It is the New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestseller. The definitive guide to shift you, your team, and your organization to new heights of confidence, market creation, and growth.
‘Blue Ocean Shift’ will teach you:
- Why focusing on competing misses huge growth opportunities;
- How to expand your thinking on strategy beyond competing;
- Why thinking creative destruction and disruption as sources of innovation is limiting;
- How you can grow through nondisruptive creation;
- How anyone in any organization can move from red to blue oceans with BLUE OCEAN SHIFT’s systematic five-step process—not just entrepreneurs;
- Why people’s confidence is essential to create and execute your growth strategy and how to build it;
- Why you should not build your growth strategy based on existing environmental and industry conditions and how you can shape them in your favour for growth.
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
“Atomic Habits is a powerful book that has changed the way I think about how I live and lead.”
Brené Brown, author of six #1 New York Times bestsellers
This breakthrough book from James Clear is the most comprehensive guide on how to change your habits and get 1% better every day.
Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits—whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, and achieve success that lasts.
‘Atomic Habits’ will teach you how to:
- Build a system for getting 1% better every day;
- Break your bad habits and stick to good ones;
- Avoid the common mistakes most people make when changing habits;
- Overcome a lack of motivation and willpower;
- Develop a stronger identity and believe in yourself;
- Make time for new habits (even when life gets crazy);
- Design your environment to make success easier;
- Make tiny, easy changes that deliver big results;
- Get back on track when you get off course;
- And most importantly, how to put these ideas into practice in real life.
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
“The Black Swan changed my view of how the world works.”
Daniel Kahneman, Nobel laureate
‘The Black Swan’ is a New York Times bestseller and one of the twelve most influential books since World War II as per Sunday Times.
Elegant, startling, and universal in its applications, The Black Swan will change the way you look at the world. Taleb is a vastly entertaining writer, with wit, irreverence, and unusual stories to tell. He has a polymathic command of subjects ranging from cognitive science to business to probability theory. The Black Swan is a landmark book—itself a black swan.
‘The Black Swan’ will teach you:
- What is a Black Swan event;
- How to recognize Black Swan events;
- How to adapt your business to the changes Black Swan events bring;
- How to approach opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decision-making in a world we don’t understand.
Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
A New York Times bestseller, ‘Skin in the Game’ is Taleb’s most provocative and practical book yet. Citing examples ranging from Hammurabi to Seneca, Antaeus the Giant to Donald Trump, Nassim Nicholas Taleb shows how the willingness to accept one’s own risks is an essential attribute of heroes, saints, and flourishing people in all walks of life.
In his book, Taleb challenges long-held beliefs about the values of those who spearhead military interventions, make financial investments, and propagate religious faiths.
‘Skin in the Game’ will teach you how to:
- Understand the world from a new vantage point;
- Succeed in your business, contribute to a fair and just society, detect nonsense;
- Influence others.
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
‘Fooled by Randomness’ is a Financial Times Best Business Book of the Year and was named by Fortune One of the Smartest Books of All Time.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb–veteran trader and renowned risk expert – has written a modern classic that turns on its head what we believe about luck and skill. Set against the backdrop of the most conspicuous forum in which luck is mistaken for skill–the world of trading–and written in an entertaining narrative style, ’Fooled by Randomness’ provides captivating insight into one of the least understood factors in all our lives.
‘Fooled by Randomness’ will teach you how to:
- Deal with luck in life and business;
- Approach luck and skill the right way;
- Leverage the power of luck;
- Understand the major intellectual issues related to the underestimation of the influence of happenstance on our lives.
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
‘Antifragile’ is the #1 Bestseller in Phenomenological Philosophy on Amazon.
Just as human bones get stronger when subjected to stress and tension, and rumours or riots intensify when someone tries to repress them, many things in life benefit from stress, disorder, volatility, and turmoil.
‘Antifragile’ will teach you how to:
- Thrive in an uncertain world, in business and life;
- Identify the category of things that not only gain from chaos but need it in order to survive and flourish.
The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
‘The Bed of Procrustes’ is a collection of aphorisms and meditations where Nassim Taleb expresses his major ideas in ways you least expect.
The Bed of Procrustes takes its title from Greek mythology: the story of a man who made his visitors fit his bed to perfection by either stretching them or cutting their limbs. It represents Taleb’s view of modern civilization’s hubristic side effects—modifying humans to satisfy technology, blaming reality for not fitting economic models, inventing diseases to sell drugs, defining intelligence as what can be tested in a classroom, and convincing people that employment is not slavery.
‘The Bed of Procrustes’ will teach you:
- Surprising truths by exposing self-delusions you have been living with but never recognized;
- How to test your business decisions by looking at them through a fresh new lens and see if they still stand.
Hustle: The Power to Charge Your Life with Money, Meaning, and Momentum by Neil Patel, Patrick Vlaskovits, and Jonas Koffler
‘Hustle’ is a New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and IndieBound bestseller that Fortune says is a must-read for any entrepreneur.
The book is a dynamic, game-changing guide to finding success and fearlessly outsmarting the system.
The authors reveal their groundbreaking three-part framework of Heart, Head, and Habits.
‘Hustle’ will teach you:
- Why you must own your dreams, not rent dreams from others;
- Ways to create your own luck and “POP”;
- How to betray yourself to stay true to yourself—and develop your potential;
- The four major career hustles and the path that’s best for you.
She’s in CTRL by Anne-Marie Imafidon
Recently our eyes have been opened to the dangerous fact that our technology is built by a series of big decisions made by a small number of people, mainly men. It means our technology is derived from the gender, nationality and beliefs of a section of society whose lived experience may not chime with our own. The tech world might feel beyond reach, particularly if you’re a woman.
But in ‘She’s In CTRL’, Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon, a dynamic advocate for women in STEM, insists that technology is not the preserve of the elite. It is in our homes and in our hands. Rather than feeling powerless to make changes to the way tech works and fails, she argues that it’s time to get into the room where the decisions are made. Or, better still, create their own tech rooms.
This powerful book about women, tech and daring to dream takes inspiration from Dr Imafidon’s own experience and from the stories of other pioneers and innovators who have, against the odds, transformed technology.
‘She’s in CTRL’ will teach you:
- That technology is not an unchangeable and unquestionable force;
- How to use technology to future-proof your business;
- How to play a part in ensuring a future that is evenly distributed.
Redesigning Work: How to Transform Your Organisation and Make Hybrid Work for Everyone by Lynda Gratton
Whether you’re working in a small team or running a multinational, this is the time to make lasting changes and equip your business for the future.
‘Redesigning Work’ is the definitive book on how to transform your organisation and make hybrid working work for you.
Based on thirty years of research into the technological, demographic, cultural and societal trends that are shaping work, and building on what we learned through our experiences of the global pandemic,
‘Redesigning Work’ will teach you:
- Lynda Gratton’s innovative four-step framework for redesigning work;
- How to understand the challenges your business is facing;
- To reimagine creative, new approaches and processes;
- How to model and test these within your organisation;
- How to act and create based on contemporary, data-led feedback;
- How to help your team embrace change, increase productivity and thrive in our new, more flexible working world.
The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity by Lynda Gratton
‘What happens when many people live to 100’? Although technology has been much studied, the impact of demography on working lives is little understood.
Whilst life expectancy has increased for decades, society continues to structure lives in the same way as in the past; we learn, we work, we retire. It is clear that many current practices are ill-equipped to cope with a 100-year life and that individuals, companies and governments all have a role to play in ensuring we structure our lives differently so we can make the most of a longer life.
‘The 100-Year Life’ has created a global conversation about longevity. It has been translated into many languages, won prizes, became one of the best-selling books in Japan and has even been made into a manga.
‘The 100-Year Life’ will teach you:
- The challenges and the intelligent choices you must make to turn greater life expectancy into a gift and not a curse;
- How to adapt by focusing on intangible as well as tangible assets (includes a diagnostic profile).
The Shift: The Future of Work is already here by Lynda Gratton
By 2010 it was clear to Lynda Gratton that the world was facing a revolution in work. She could see a substantial schism between the past and the present in the way we work.
Much of the insights in this book came from the Future of Work Research Consortium, which brings companies from around the world together to imagine the future.
The book has been translated into multiple languages, won prizes and became a bestseller in Japan. Lynda Gratton uses it as a set text for her elective at London Business School, ‘The Future of Work’.
‘The Shift’ will teach you:
- What is the impact of a low-carbon economy on the way we work;
- How technology and globalisation work together with demographic and societal changes to transform work.
The New Long Life: A Framework for Flourishing in a Changing World by Lynda Gratton
Human progress has risen to great heights, but at the same time it has prompted anxiety about where we’re heading. Are our jobs under threat? If people live to 100, will they ever really stop working? And how will this change the way we love, manage and learn from others?
‘The New Long Life’ will teach you:
- How longevity impacts your business;
- How to make the most of smart new technologies;
- What is Lynda Gratton’s ‘human ingenuity’ concept and what it means for the business environment;
- How to navigate a new life by learning, transitioning, and making deep connections.
Glow: How you can radiate energy, innovation and success by Lynda Gratton
You know them at first sight: teammates or colleagues, direct reports or bosses who radiate enthusiasm, positive energy, and inspiration. Even in difficult circumstances they glow with an attitude that inspires others, fosters a great working experience for everyone, and creates empowering relationships.
‘Glow’ will teach you:
- Three principles that people who glow live by;
- Three actions for putting each principle into practice based on years of original research.
The Key: How Corporations Succeed by Solving the World’s Toughest Problems by Lynda Gratton
What would happen if corporations actively anchored themselves in their communities and supply chains? What if they leverage their unique capabilities to address complex global challenges such as climate change and youth unemployment?
When intelligence and wisdom are amplified, emotional vitality is enhanced and social connections are harnessed.
‘The Key’ will teach you how to:
- Scale and mobilise your business with unique innovative strategies;
- Grow your business by committing to solving global problems;
- Create alliance-building capabilities for your business;
- Bring resilience to a fragile world starting with what happens inside a corporation.
The Exceptional Manager: Making the Difference by Lynda Gratton
Many businesses face the choice of either competing on the ‘low road’ of cost or the ‘high road’ of innovation and value.
This ground-breaking book is essential reading for policymakers, analysts, academics, and managers to be who want to make a different future.
‘The Exceptional Manager’ will teach you:
- How to grow your business by applying the combined insight of some of the best minds in management;
- The right way to assess the challenges your business faces with the help of a clear and crisp analysis;
- A range of ideas on how to develop the competencies, practices and values that can make a difference in your business.
Hot Spots: Why some companies buzz with energy and innovation – and others don’t by Lynda Gratton
‘Hot Spots’ is one of Lynda Gratton’s most influential books developing one of her research findings which highlights the importance of cooperation to innovation. This topic, particularly boundary-spanning networks, is central to her views about creativity in corporations and she has used them right up to her present thoughts about hybrid work.
This book was the result of a research programme about cooperation, leveraging the companies in Lynda Gratton’s research consortium ‘The Leading Edge’ and with support from the Singapore government.
‘Hot Spots’ will teach you how to:
- Encourage your own organisational Hot Spots by focusing on cooperation, networks and the role of purpose;
- Build creativity in your organisation.
SalesDogs: You Don’t Have to be an Attack Dog to Explode Your Income by Blair Singer
The number one skill for any entrepreneur or business owner is the ability to sell. Why? Because sales = income. Yet, many fail financially not because they do not have great ideas or even good work ethic, but typically because they don’t know how to, refuse to, are afraid to, or don’t think it is important to know how to sell.
‘SalesDogs’ will teach you:
- How to overcome the fears, the myths and the obstacles to selling your products, services or yourself;
- A simple, time-proven process of selling that will generate great income for your business;
- The five most important selling skills to master;
- How to overcome any objection;
- How to manage a territory.
Little Voice Mastery: How to Win the War Between Your Ears in 30 Seconds or Less and Have an Extraordinary Life by Blair Singer
“Little Voice” is the chatter in the six inches between your ears that turns you into a hero one minute and a dunce the next. The 21 proven techniques presented here will reprogram the “Little Voice” in your brain in 30 seconds.
‘Little Voice Mastery’ will teach you how to:
- Build strategies and techniques to maintain power in any pressure situation;
- Stop debilitating chatter in your brain so you can attract what you want;
- Uncover and realize lifelong dreams;
- Break through self-sabotaging habits;
- Build powerful, lasting confidence;
- Resurrect the hero inside of you.
24 best learnings you will take from BRAND MINDS 2023
Not sure how BRAND MINDS is going to help you and your team achieve your business goals?
Here are 27 learnings BRAND MINDS 2023 speakers have taught 6000+ participants:
JAMES CLEAR, Bestselling Author of ‘Atomic Habits’
RENÉE MAUBORGNE, Bestselling Author of ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’
NASSIM NICHOLAS TALEB, Author & Risk Analyst
NEIL PATEL, Digital Marketing Expert
ANNE-MARIE IMAFIDON, Tech Leadership Expert
DUNCAN WARDLE, Innovation Expert & Former Head of Creativity at Disney
LYNDA GRATTON, Future of Work Strategy Expert at London Business School
BLAIR SINGER, World Famous Sales Expert
27 growth insights from James Clear, Nassim Taleb, Renee Mauborgne, Blair Singer, Lynda Gratton and Anne-Marie Imafidon
Are you looking for growth insights with remarkable results in your life and career?
Here are 27 growth insights from global business thinkers and BRAND MINDS 2023 speakers James Clear, Nassim Taleb, Renée Mauborgne, Blair Singer, Lynda Gratton, Anne-Marie Imafidon and Neil Patel.
Growth Insight Quote #1:
“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.” (Atomic Habits)
James Clear, Bestselling Author of Atomic Habits
Growth Insight Quote #2:
“The purpose of setting goals is to win the game. The purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game. True long-term thinking is goal-less thinking.”(Atomic Habits)
James Clear, Bestselling Author of Atomic Habits
Growth Insight Quote #1:
“When you can’t win by being better, you can win by being different.” (Atomic Habits)
James Clear, Bestselling Author of Atomic Habits
Growth Insight Quote #4:
“Professionals stick to the schedule, amateurs let life get in the way” (Atomic Habits)
James Clear, Bestselling Author of Atomic Habits
Growth Insight Quote #5:
“You don’t have to be the victim of your environment. You can also be the architect of it.” (Atomic Habits)
James Clear, Bestselling Author of Atomic Habits
Growth Insight Quote #6:
“Face-to-face interactions between workers fell by 70% after they shifted to open-plan offices, according to one study.” (Redesigning Work)
Lynda Gratton, Future of Work Strategy Expert @London Business School
Growth Insight Quote #7:
“Flexibility became a reality, and leaders realized employees could still get their jobs done.” (Redesigning Work)
Lynda Gratton, Future of Work Strategy Expert @London Business School
Growth Insight Quote #8:
“Bureaucracy declined because of the ruthless prioritization required in the shift to remote work.” (Redesigning Work)
Lynda Gratton, Future of Work Strategy Expert @London Business School
Growth Insight Quote #9:
“A complex job involves around 30 separate tasks, or different things one does in the course of it.” (Redesigning Work)
Lynda Gratton, Future of Work Strategy Expert @London Business School
Growth Insight Quote #10:
“Don’t tell me what you ‘think’ – just tell me what’s in your portfolio.” (Skin in the Game)
Nassim Taleb, Author & Risk Analyst
Growth Insight Quote #11:
“Those who don’t take risks should never be involved in making decisions.” (Skin in the Game)
Nassim Taleb, Author & Risk Analyst
Growth Insight Quote #12:
“Think in terms of expected value. Individual probabilities are meaningless without knowing the magnitude of their outcomes.” (Fooled by Randomness)
Nassim Taleb, Author & Risk Analyst
Growth Insight Quote #13:
“Life is nonlinear. Small acts can have disproportionate consequences.” (Fooled by Randomness)
Nassim Taleb, Author & Risk Analyst
Growth Insight Quote #14:
“We are blind to probabilities. We do not make rational choices, but emotional ones.” (Fooled by Randomness)
Nassim Taleb, Author & Risk Analyst
Growth Insight Quote #15:
“Redraw industry boundaries and operate within that new space, making the competition irrelevant.” (Blue Ocean Strategy)
Renée Mauborgne, Bestselling Author of Blue Ocean Strategy & Blue Ocean Shift
Growth Insight Quote #16:
“Align the whole system of a firm’s activities in pursuit of differentiation and low cost.” (Blue Ocean Strategy)
Renée Mauborgne, Bestselling Author of Blue Ocean Strategy & Blue Ocean Shift
Growth Insight Quote #17:
“Achieving your dreams requires letting go of conventional paths.” (Hustle)
Neil Patel, Digital Marketing Expert
Growth Insight Quote #18:
“Taking risks to own your dreams is part of hustle.”(Hustle)
Neil Patel, Digital Marketing Expert
Growth Insight Quote #19:
“Take small steps toward your dreams to persevere through tough times.” (Hustle)
Neil Patel, Digital Marketing Expert
Growth Insight Quote #20:
“Develop a portfolio that showcases your strengths and highlights your dreams.” (Hustle)
Neil Patel, Digital Marketing Expert
Growth Insight Quote #21:
“Digital literacy is a great way to step up your career.” (She’s in CTRL)
Anne-Marie Imafidon, Tech Leadership Expert
Growth Insight Quote #22:
“Learn how to deliver a great “elevator pitch.” Learn how to make a presentation that lasts from two minutes to 20 minutes that compels others to take immediate action of some sort. Practice it again and again until it rolls off your tongue.” (SalesDogs)
Blair Singer, World Famous Sales Expert
Growth Insight Quote #23:
“More and more, we live in Extremistan, an unequal world with unpredictable extreme outliers.” (Black Swan)
Nassim Taleb, Author & Risk Analyst
Growth Insight Quote #24:
“Fragmentation – a world where a multitude of things constantly demand our attention.” (The Shift)
Lynda Gratton, Future of Work Strategy Expert @London Business School
Growth Insight Quote #25:
“Isolation – a world where the reliance on virtual technology and working from home has led to a dramatic decrease of face-to-face meetings.” (The Shift)
Lynda Gratton, Future of Work Strategy Expert @London Business School
Growth Insight Quote #26:
“Never underestimate who may know the person who knows the person you want to meet. If you suspect even the most remote possibility that someone might be able to lead you to a decision-maker… Follow it!” (SalesDogs)
Blair Singer, World Famous Sales Expert
Growth Insight Quote #27:
“There are 5 forces that shape the world now and in the future: technology, globalisation, demography & longevity, society and energy resources.” (The Shift)
Lynda Gratton, Future of Work Strategy Expert @London Business School
Top 20 business people to watch for in 2017
Each one of us needs to be inspired, to meet and read about inspirational people and success stories that truly show us that the sky is the limit. We compiled of list of great entrepreneurs, social media influencers, both men and women, that we believe deserve a look over their careers so far and that will still be a great inspiration in the years to come.
Neil Patel – an internet marketer and conversion expert, best known as the founder of Crazy Egg, Quick Sprout, and KISSMetrics. Recognized as a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 30 by President Obama, Patel is also a regular, respected contributor for publications such as Inc., Fast Company, Forbes, Entrepreneur.com and TechCrunch. He helps companies like Amazon, NBC, GM, HP and Viacom grow their revenue.
John Rampton is a serial entrepreneur, connector, and the founder of Due.com. Rampton has hailed as No. 3 of the Top 50 Global Online Influencers and one of the Top 10 Most Influential PPC Experts in the World for 3 years running. Time Magazine recognized John as a motivations speaker that helps people find a “Sense of Meaning” in their lives. He currently advises several companies in the bay area. John loves helping others succeed online. It’s all about helping and giving back. It brings me joy in my life.
Chris Stoikos is best known for his hilarious viral videos, which generated 130M views and $10.5M in sales in the past year alone as part of his venture Dollar Beard Club. Stoikos has also appeared on NBC’s Shark Tank and generated millions in revenue for various product launches. is a highly regarded serial entrepreneur with two successful exits under his belt. He is an expert at creating and organizing dynamic teams that can execute business ideas quickly and effectively, and set them up to be self-sustaining organizations.
Ann Handley has been named by “Forbes” as the “Most Influential Woman in Social Media” and one of the Top 20 Women Bloggers. She is the chief content officer of MarketingProfs, a training company that empowers marketers internationally with the skills they need to drive success at their companies, and her book “Everybody Writes” is a Wall Street Journal bestseller. She is also the co-author of the best-selling book on content marketing, “Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business.”
Moreover, a pioneer in digital marketing, Ann is the co-founder of ClickZ.com, which was one of the first sources of digital marketing news and commentary.
Shradha Agarwal co-started Context Media with a goal to help patients with chronic diseases better manage their health. She is now reaching more that 6+ million patients a month. Shradha co-founded JumpStart Ventures in 2011 to fund other passionate entrepreneurs who are executing ambitious solutions in healthcare, education and media communications, and has since backed more than 40 companies with over $10 million in venture investments. She mentors entrepreneurs at Techstars, Impact Engine & Blueprint Health, but is equally invested in the venture philanthropy model for scaling nonprofit solutions through SVP Chicago and The Chicago Public Education Fund. She serves on the boards of OneGoal and Chicago Children’s Choir and spiritedly supports youth education, women leadership, and civic engagement. The CEC recently honored the two ContextMedia co-founders with the “2015 Chicagoness Award” for their deep commitment to developing the city’s ecosystem. Agarwal was honored as a Champion of Change by the White House, recognized as Best Female Founder at the United Nations, and won a Moxie Award as “Tech Woman of the Year” in Chicago.
Anthony Smith is Founder and CEO of Insightly, a San Francisco-based company that provides customer relationship management (CRM) cloud-based software to more than 1.2 million customers in 200 countries. After identifying a market need for a CRM solution for small businesses, Anthony built the first version of Insightly himself, using his previous experience of designing, constructing, and implementing CRM software for enterprises.
Julia Taylor Cheek isn’t new to business, but the Harvard Business grad’s new company is literally changing the way we live. Cheek’s company, EverlyWell (of which she is both co-founder and CEO) is simplifying health testing and putting it into words and charts that everybody can understand.
Branden Hampton is the king of social media, having built over 33M followers across Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. He’s also the CEO of the social media marketing company One Penny Ad Agency and co-author of “ How to Set Up Your Business for Under $1000”.
Brian D. Evans is an Inc 500 entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Influencive, an online publication read by millions of young entrepreneurs. His company, BDE Ventures had 2,388% growth in 3 years and was the 25th fastest growing advertising and marketing agency in America.
Ekta Sahasi is the vice president of the U.S .Business Innovation Center (BIC) for Konica Minolta, where her team seeks out new places to invest in disruptive technology that can advance the company’s competitive advantage. When not investing in startups and overseeing innovation at Konica Minolta, Sahasi helps startups understand how they can enter Asian markets and work within those cultural parameters. Prior to joining Konica Minolta, Ekta spent 10 years at eBay Inc. where she co-founded and led both eBay and PayPal’s Research and Innovation Labs. She successfully developed one of the largest corporate innovation programs, and experimented with emerging technologies for enhancing existing technology stack and M&A. As Director of Innovation Products and Research at PayPal she built and scaled a global cross-functional team and led the strategic vision and execution of high-impact projects.
Russ Ruffino: Founder and CEO of Clients on Demand, the most reliable client attraction system in the world, Ruffino has helped coaches and thought leaders all over the world build six-figure monthly businesses from scratch. His massive success in marketing and as a business owner has allowed him to become one of the most respected business coaches in the industry.
Pejman Ghadimi is a self-made multi-millionaire, serial entrepreneur, best-selling book author and currently the CEO and Founder of Secret Entourage. The platform was started in 2009 to help bring together some of today’s greatest and brightest CEO’s, business owners and innovators in an attempt to help bridge the gap between formal and self-education by providing current, relevant, as well as affordable coaching and mentorship. Secret Entourage presently is home to over 280 accredited entrepreneurs covering more than 100 industries, over 30,000 students and reaches millions through social media. Since its launch, Secret Entourage has expanded its reach to over 1,200,000 new individuals each month and has grown as an accepted brand in the business and lifestyle community. The organization has to date aided tens of thousands of individuals and organizations in reaching their full potential. Secret Entourage has also helped unify accredited Entrepreneurs with the mission of bringing back the true meaning of entrepreneurship, and to be an inspiration to all. In 2012, Pejman authored Third Circle Theory, Gen Y’s blueprint to Entrepreneurship which had sold over 50,000 copies by mid 2013.
Pejman is also the owner and founder of VIPMotoring.net, a unique luxury lifestyle concierge service which currently was said to be “one of the best sources of education for today’s modern millionaires” by Forbes in 2012.
Roger Bryan is a serial entrepreneur with two successful exits: a marketing agency and an ecommerce business. His current venture, Enfusen, named a Top 10 Tool Entrepreneurs Can Use to Automate Their Business by Inc., is a machine-learning analytics platform that helps digital marketing agencies drive increased traffic and conversion for their clients.
Sam Ovens: Ovens has told the story how he started completely broke, working out of his parents’ garage in New Zealand, and in five short years, started a consulting business, moved to New York and made over $20 million. Ovens helps everyday people quit their jobs and “job-like” businesses to start their own highly leveraged consulting business. His methods are shaking up the consulting industry. Since 2011 he has created 14 millionaires and 340 six-figure earners with his training programs.
John Sculley and David Steinberg, ZetaGlobal – Former Apple and Pepsi CEO John Sculley and David Steinberg have become darlings of the marketing tech world, creating a business that provides analytics-driven platform that can also both see the customer’s life-cycle, measure ROI and understand your audience for intelligent marketing across the board. The company remains profitable, and made over $300 million in revenue the last year. Considering the cutthroat nature of the business, marketing tech leaders should pay real attention to Sculley and Steinberg as Zeta continues to grow.
Raviv Turner, CaliberMind, is a serial tech entrepreneur and former Israeli intelligence of CaliberMind, stands out. The company plugs into your CRM and content pipeline and uses psychographic ( a huge secret weapon in marketing) profiling of your sales and marketing calls, emails and customers’ social feeds to intelligently inform you both how to communicate with them and what content to feed them, such as security content for a security-minded person.
Amanda Signorelli, CEO of Techweek, is building tech-based entrepreneurial communities in major cities across North America, helping local business break through.
Danielle Morrill, CEO and co-founder of Mattermark, is improving the way that businesses find and connect with the ideal customers, simplifying the process of finding leads for businesses of all sizes. Small businesses will want to keep Morrill’s company on their radar in 2017.
Natalya Brikner – Founder and CEO of Accion Systems Inc., brings her MIT rocket science knowledge and experience to help push space-travel forward – all before the age of 30.
