Why Attend?

Flying Upside Down is a full-day event designed from the ground-up to deliver real startup stories and guidance from leaders that have been there. The highly curated lineup of speakers will tackle every stage of the journey, from high-level strategy to tactical execution. Discover new mental models for navigating in the clouds and real insights to put in motion tomorrow.

AGENDA

8:00 AM

Registration & Breakfast

9:00 AM

Welcome
Kym McNicholas, Radio Show Host, The Innovators Network Advisor, Extreme Tech Challenge

Why "Flying Upside Down"?

In aviation, there are four forces that affect things that fly:

Thrust - the force that propels a flying machine in the direction of motion.

Drag - the force that acts opposite to the direction of motion.

Weight - the force of gravity.

Lift - the force that acts at a right angle to the direction of motion through the air.

In a start-up, thrust is provided by capital (monetary such as revenue/cashflow and investment capital and human/intellectual capital). The opposing horizontal force, or “drag”, is created by limited resources and the competitive forces targeting your customers and employees as well as alternatives/substitutes and new market entrants.

Weight, a fact of life, conspires against conventional flight much the same way that the Normal Distribution illustrates the likelihood of the success of a start-up. Entrepreneurs start companies despite knowing that 9 in 10 start-ups will fail. Lift, the opposing force, is created by a company’s differentiation and the team’s execution and commitment (along with a little hubris and perhaps ignorance).

If these opposing forces are not equal, then you will certainly crash. And if you are flying in the clouds, without a visual reference to the natural horizon (which is what it’s like in a start-up most days) then attention to detail is even more critical because if you aren’t careful, your nose will drop below the horizon and put you into an inverted dive.  Flying upside down is not intrinsically hard, but sooner or later it must come to an end.

Entrepreneurs have an immense capacity to be optimistic and to ignore obstacles, risks and doubt. A good entrepreneur, like a good pilot, learns how to fly straight and recognize which way is up. And, once you can maintain straight and level flight, then you can soar higher and faster.

To help entrepreneurs and corporate innovators maintain "level flight" and to soar "higher and faster" we have brought together, in one place, for one day, some of the leading thinkers, dreamers and artists to inspire, demonstrate and share their practical, authentic and actionable advice and life lessons.

Speakers

AL RAMADAN, Co-author, Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets

How to be a category king - the science behind the strategies that innovators use to create and dominate product markets.

AMY WILKINSON, Author, The Creators Code 

The Six Essential Skills of Extraordinary Entrepreneurs

GREG McKEOWN, Author, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

The Way of the Essentialist isn’t about getting more done in less time. It’s about getting only the right things done.

LT. COL. ROB 'WALDO' WALDMAN, Author, Never Fly Solo  

Decision making at 1,450 MPH

MATT MUNSON, Co-Founder, Twenty20

How I Burned 10 Million Dollars So You Don’t Have To
 

ACACIA LEROY, Asia Pacific Trend Strategist, TrendWatching

Asia: Disruption 101 - What You Don’t Know Will Kill You                                          

ROB MAY, CEO, Talla

Top 5 Fundraising Lessons for Entrepreneurs

KYM MCNICHOLAS

Emmy Award winning broadcast journalist and Executive Director of Sir Richard Branson's Extreme Tech Challenge

SPIROS MICHALAKIS, Quantum Physicist, CalTech 

Facing insurmountable obstacles

JEN HOLMSTROM, Head of Talent, GGV Capital, previously Facebook 

How to create high-performing management teams and winning cultures

NORMAN WINARSKY, Author, If You Really Want to Change the World

Creating, Building, and Sustaining Breakthrough Ventures

GEOFFREY CLAPP, Healthcare Entrepreneur 

Flying too close to the sun - failing to find an appropriate product market fit

CHRIS O'NEILL, CEO, Evernote 

Turning The Elephant Around
 

ANGUS DAVIS, Founder, Upserve (co-founder TellMe)

Flying Lessons - the most important and relevant lessons from flying

JACCO VANDERKOOIJ, Author, Blueprints of a SaaS Sales Organization

The Art of Making Love
 

KEVIN TALBOT, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Relay Ventures

The Four Forces of Entrepreneurship

Speaker lineup is subject to change

LOCATION

Hiller Aviation Museum

601 Skyway Rd,

San Carlos, California 94070

Previous Speakers

SPONSORS

Register