David Rowan explains compellingly how emerging technologies will impact business — and how leaders should prepare now. As founding Editor-in-Chief of WIRED magazine’s UK edition, David came to know the founders of WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Google, Didi, Spotify, Xiaomi, Nest, Twitter and countless other ambitious startups from Tel Aviv to Shenzhen. He has since invested in more than 60 early-stage tech companies, including two that became billion-dollar “unicorns”, and is an adviser to Lakestar, one of Europe’s largest venture-capital funds.
His best-selling book “Non-Bullshit Innovation: Radical Ideas from the World’s Smartest Minds” (Penguin, 2019) has been published in Japan, Korea, Russia and beyond. The book, a 20-country quest for bold corporate innovation in the face of technology-led disruption, sets out sixteen proven strategies for future-proofing a successful business — from “Turn products into services” to “Empower your team” and “Become a platform”.
David has been a technology columnist for The Times, GQ, Condé Nast Traveller and The Sunday Times, and hosts a new podcast series about tech founders called Walks With Founders. He has received repeat requests to keynote for clients such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Google, KPMG, McKinsey, Chanel and Unilever, and has moderated events for the World Economic Forum and the UK and French governments. And he is still searching for the future.