David S. Rose is an Inc. 500 CEO, serial entrepreneur, angel investor, author and keynote speaker who has founded or funded over 100 pioneering companies. He has been described by Forbes as “New York’s Archangel”, by BusinessWeek as a “world conquering entrepreneur”, by Crain’s New York Business as “the father of angel investing in New York”, and by Red Herring magazine as “patriarch of Silicon Alley”. He is the New York Times best selling author of Angel Investing: The Gust Guide to Making Money & Having Fun Investing in Startups, and The Startup Checklist: 25 Steps to a Scalable, High-Growth Business.
From his initial involvement with the first online communities in the 1970s, through founding one of the first personal computer training companies in the 1980s, one of the first wireless data information networks in the 1990s, and the first global angel investing platform in the 2000s, David has been at the forefront of innovation in business and technology.
Among the fields in which he has been actively involved as an executive, board member or investor are: wireless communications, consumer electronics, crowdsourcing, international finance, social networking, space tourism, user-generated content, online video, mobile network security, biological testing, electronic music, citizen journalism, out-of-home advertising, fiber-optic networking, concierge medicine, online marketing, interactive voice response, and many others.
As an entrepreneurial executive himself, David is the founder and CEO of Gust, which operates the world’s largest online platform and community for entrepreneurs and early stage investors. Gust is used by hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs in 190 countries to connect with tens of thousands of accredited investors.
He is also Managing Director of Rose Tech Ventures; Founder and Chairman Emeritus of New York Angels; and Founding Track Chair for Finance and Entrepreneurship at Singularity University, the Google/NASA-sponsored post-graduate program in exponential technologies.
David is Chairman of Boards of Social Bicycles and Waywire.com, serves as a director of KoolSpan; TekServe and the NY Tech Meetup, and is an active early stage investor in companies including RealtyMogul, Space Adventures, Moven and Magnetic.
David is well known in the business startup community for discovering and mentoring high-potential entrepreneurs, and has been profiled by BusinessWeek as “The Pitch Coach” for his ability to help CEOs perfect their fundraising skills. He is a regular speaker at the TED conferences, and his TEDtalk on How to Pitch a VC has been viewed nearly a million times. He lectures at business schools including Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Pace, and Stevens, and was named Mentor of the Year by NYU’s Stern School of Business.
Prior to founding AirMedia Corporation in 1988, for which he served as CEO for over ten years, his career included over fifteen years in real estate development, government, teaching and urban planning. David was co-founder and Chairman of The Computer Classroom and Vice President at Rose Associates, Inc. Earlier, he served as Deputy Director of the New York office of US Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
A native New Yorker, David has a BA in Urban Affairs from Yale University, an MBA in Finance from Columbia Business School and a D. Eng. (hc) from Stevens Institute of Technology. He is a graduate of the New York City public school system and Horace Mann High School. He is an Associate Fellow of Pierson College at Yale University and a member of the Entrepreneurship Advisory Boards of Columbia Business School and Yale University. David can be followed online @davidsrose
Topics
How to Start a High-Growth Startup
Format: 30-90 minute keynote
This program is perfect for entrepreneurs and prospective entrepreneurs looking for specific guidance in how to start a business designed to grow rapidly, be funded by investors, and eventually exit to a larger company or through an IPO.
The audience will leave with:
- A solid understanding of how a “high-growth startup” is very different from a “small business”
- Specific, actionable steps to follow to plan, incorporate and finance a startup
- A signed copy of David’s New York Times best seller, “The Startup Checklist: 25 Steps to a Scalable, High-Growth Business.”
This talk is based on the best selling book “The Startup Checklist”, and usually includes a book signing, photo session, and extensive Question & Answer session with the audience.
The Essence of Entrepreneurship
Starting a new venture is simultaneously the most exhilarating and terrifying occupation on earth, and entrepreneurs are the passionate, driven, engines of the world’s economic development. In this inspirational, educational keynote, venture capitalist David S. Rose, described by BusinessWeek as a ‘world conquering entrepreneur’, will regale the audience with stories from the more than 85 companies he has founded or funded, discuss the reality of entrepreneurial life choices, and provide invaluable guidance to current entrepreneurs and those considering starting on their own. This presentation is ideal for business schools, entrepreneurship programs, and business leadership events.
All About Angel Investing
Angel investors, the high net worth individuals who put their own money into backing startup entrepreneurs, regularly see annualized returns of 20%, 30%, even 40%, on their early investments into companies such as Facebook, Google, Apple and Pinterest. In this program designed for high net worth audiences, Mr. Rose, one of America’s leading early stage angel investors, and the founder of Gust.com, the industry’s official platform connecting investors with startups, will reveal the secrets behind getting in on the ground floor in the next Big Thing. He will share stories of triumphs and disasters from the more than 85 high-tech startups in which he has personally invested, including companies that were purchased by Facebook, Google, Intel, CBS and Kodak for hundreds of millions of dollars. This program, ideal for affluent audiences, will guide participants through the world of professional angel investing, and introduce them to all the tools and sources they will need to select and make their initial investments.
Venture Capital Pitch Boot Camp
Mr. Rose, described by BusinessWeek as “The Pitch Coach” and by Forbes as “New York’s Archangel”, knows what it takes to get venture capitalists and angel investors to open up their checkbooks to fund a new venture. As the Founder of New York Angels, he hears more than 500 pitches a year, and routinely sees otherwise great companies turned away because their fundraising pitches completely missed their target. In this special coaching session for high-growth entrepreneurs, he will walk attendees through exactly how to prepare and deliver a presentation that will give their companies the best chance of being funded. In his unique dynamic style, he will teach the top ten rules for fundraising pitches; what your investors are really hearing…despite what you’re saying; how to structure your presentation to walk out with a check; and his ‘Pitch Perfect’ techniques for using PowerPoint. David S. Rose’s classic TED talk on “How to Pitch a VC” has been viewed over 800,000 times and is mandatory viewing in business schools around the world. As an optional addition, Mr. Rose can do a live ‘make-over’ of a pre-submitted presentation from the audience, demonstrating the amazing difference his presentation techniques can make.
No More Companies, No More Jobs…On the Way to a World Without Work
Optimistic futurists such as Ray Kurzweil claim that new technologies will create new jobs in an ever-growing virtuous circle. Pessimists such as the late Kurt Vonnegut project a dystopian future of pandemic unemployment. David S. Rose will unveil a third vision, as developed during his work as Track Chair for Finance, Entrepreneurship, and Economics at Singularity University: that technological development is moving us to a ‘post sufficiency’ economy, with neither ‘jobs’ nor a need for them. He will lead an entertaining, eye-opening and thought-provoking discussion tracing the growth of companies, and projecting their future disappearance. Your audience will come away with a completely new perspective on the future and what their role in it will be.
Everything You Think You Know…Is Wrong!
David S. Rose knows how the world is changing, and what YOU need to know to keep up with it. As one of the country’s most active early-stage investors, he understands how the latest technology is up-ending every facet of every business. In this special keynote session, the expert who has consulted to everyone from startups to Fortune 500 companies will walk participants through the latest developments and technologies that are redefining business in the 21st century. Based on his renowned work at Singularity University, this mind-expanding keynote is a crash-course in the future, covering topics including the Long Tail, Web 2.0, Globalization, and why hyper-accelerating technology is driving the cost of everything to free.
Testimonials
David possesses the unique ability to engage and inspire even the most sophisticated entrepreneurial leaders with fresh content never seen before and a knack for making the difficult seem simple and the impossible your next action step. You don’t want him to stop.
– CEO, Kavoo Airlines
David S. Rose got me thinking about topics that I’m still talking about weeks later. His insightful view of the world and impactful delivery left a long-lasting impression on me.
– CEO, Likeable
David is so smart it’s stupid! He makes the complex world of investing and being invested in simple through his extensive experience, uncanny intuition, and powerful insights. I realized more actionable value from 75 minutes with David than any other days-long workshops I’ve attended.
– Founder, The Future Media
David S. Rose is a master at turning presentations from “before” to “after.” I wish more of the start-ups I hear making presentations used his services!
– CEO, EDVenture
David’s talk could be subtitled “The 60-minute MBA”. In less than an hour, he covered everything entrepreneurs need to know about launching and scaling their venture concepts.Through the use of cautionary tales, memorable anecdotes and battled-tested advice, he delivered a sobering yet uplifting message about entrepreneurship that had the room enthralled.
– Director of Entrepreneurship, New York University – Stern School of Business
Bad presentations kill great young companies. David has a knack for turning and tuning presentations and presenters to show them in the best light.
– Founder, About.com
Misc.
- VIDEO Trailer for Second Chance series for MSN
- VIDEO The Evolution of Success
- VIDEO The Future of CrowdFunding
- PHOTO David S. Rose
- PHOTO David S Rose Pitch Coach
- PHOTO David S Rose Casual
- JACKET Angel Investing