Direct, contrarian and founder-practical. Rick brings 15 years of sports and entertainment partnerships and a bootstrapped AI company to every stage and microphone.
Four themes, seventeen talk titles. Every one is built for founders, CMOs and growth-stage leaders.
Building and scaling MarketStorm nationwide with no outside funding, and when investor money helps or hurts.
Real value vs. hype in enterprise AI, and why blind trend-chasing fails without strategy.
Consumer sentiment vs. capital markets, and what 15 years in sports and entertainment taught him about timing.
When to leave a job, when to grow vs. walk away, and the “stuck” phase of a 3- to 5-year-old company.
Rick and co-founder Carole Lawson on The Entrepreneur's Logbook: predictive marketing, building without VC, and the founder lessons they'd act on faster.
“I hope my story of ups and downs and the importance of persistence can be of help to some of the amazing students on their own roads in business and life.”Rick on LinkedIn, after his 2023 Harvard Extension lecture
“What we do is we capture people that are at the very beginning of the thought process about any type of purchase or sort of big decision.”
“Google says in their research almost all marketers are missing most of their return on investment, because they're only focused on the last click.”
“As a founder, it's so easy to want to do everything. You really need to let go, let your team handle what they're great at, and focus on what you're best at.”
Bios in three lengths, a headshot and fast facts are in the media kit. For dates and formats, email Rick or connect on LinkedIn.
Rick talks AI without the hype, growth without venture capital, and reaching buyers before they search.