Speaking

Matt Ward has spent a career thinking about how new forms of commerce, media, and technology are impacting culture, business, and the economy—both in the immediate, and long-term future. He is a serial entrepreneur, startup advisor and business coach, investor, author, futurist and host of The Disruptors podcast. He’s built and sold three companies (including a 7-figure ecommerce exit in under 12 months), coached thousands of founders and CEOs through his podcasts FBA ALLSTARS (on all things Amazon ecommerce) and The Syndicate (the ins and outs of startup investing) and come to be recognized as a top thought leaders on the topic of startups, entrepreneurship, Amazon/ecommerce, marketing and futurism. Matt’s a top Medium.com top blogger, ranked #25 on Ross Dawson’s most influential futurists’ rankings and his writing’s been featured in the likes of Mattermark Daily, Inc (as a columnist), Lifehacker, Inc, VentureBeat, Gigaom and Hackernoon. Matt’s been interviewed on 39+ podcasts, including Conscious Millionaire, Entrepreneur On Fire, the Superhuman Academy podcast and is the author of Gods of the Valley: How Today’s Tech Giants Monopolize our Future.

Topics

Here’s a brief sample of the many topics I can cover.

Personal/Motivational:

Why 10x Results Don’t Require 10x Effort. We are living in an era where ANYONE can start a business and build something massive, even with little funding. And even more importantly, social safety nets allow individuals to dream bigger and attempt the impossible like no other time in human history. So why do so few people try truly transformational projects? Instead people say “don’t dream too big” or “be realistic…” How Travel Transformed my Life and Helped Me Build a “Lifestyle” $1M Business in a Year. Distributed teams and solopreneurs are more real and scalable than ever. And people are less satisfied than ever with the traditional 9-5. I started out with $8k and turned it into a 7-figure exit in a year, with lots of lessons and mistakes along the way. The most important thing, focus and doubling down on your winners. So, if you need a motivational talk that combines following your dreams while seeking success, this is the one. Lessons Learned From a Burned Out Entrepreneur. 

Business/Tactical:

The Amazon Apocalypse That’s Killing Ecommerce, and Its Future (10k+ upvotes on Medium). The ins and outs of ecommerce from a 7-figure Amazon seller who coached 1000s of ecommerce entrepreneurs, and wrote the book on marketplace selling and the future of Amazon. Bezos’ empire is growing, and the monopolistic marketplace crushes competitors (and partners) like flies in the Amazon Basics mission to encompass ALL commerce. Let’s explore how voice, AR/VR and experiential commerce affect the ecommerce landscape, what brands can do to thrive and where we’re headed from here. The 5 Types of Network Effects, How to Hack Them, and Uber Got Wrong (19k+ upvotes on Medium). How many billions did Uber lose since IPO? There’s a reason, and I called it years ago. Instead of building unsustainable business models, startups that align growth with consistent network effects can leverage exponential flywheel success. Here’s how, and lessons learned from the charred bodies along the way. How to Build a Series A Fundable SaaS Business. Step one, acquire customers. Step two, retain customers. We cover the very best ways to do both, the pros and cons of different methods, and how any business can succeed (and grow), without working hard or having to pay to acquire customers. Your Topic Wasn’t Covered? When I’m not on stage, I’m learning from some of the most amazing minds, TED fellows, scientists probing space, researchers exploring AI, human consciousness, and the future of work and jobs, geneticists, urban planners, founders, venture capitalist—ie, the most interesting and influential superhumans creating our collective future. If your topic isn’t explicitly here, or if you’re uncertain, just get in touch and I’ll be sure to work it through with you. To find out more about bringing Matt to your event, contact speaking@mattward.io. Matt’s is a sought after public speaker at conferences, companies, organizations, universities, and communities around the world:  

Select Speaking Samples

Podcasts Matt Has Appeared On