NEW ORLEANS – This year’s Grow Your Company Conference (GrowCo) will feature inspiring headliners including Kevin O’Leary, Sheryl Sandberg and Steve Case as well as hardcore, tactical sessions focused on boosting your business growth and profitability.
GrowCo – with more than 600 attendees, 56 percent of them CEOs, and more than 20 sessions with 35 speakers – will take place from May 8-10, at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, 500 Canal St.
Created and curated by Inc. Magazine, GrowCo is a three-day event that brings together hundreds of entrepreneurs, hungry for the advice, proven strategies and connections needed to start and grow a business. Through inspiring keynotes and educational breakouts, plus lots of networking, attendees will learn to be even more audacious and bold to grow their business and their bottom line.
GrowCo reps said this year’s speaker lineup features industry disrupters, seasoned entrepreneurs and the best and brightest business talent including:
• Kevin O’Leary
SHARK TANK
“My partners … taught me that in order to create wealth, I needed to pair up with people whose strengths compensated for my weaknesses.“
• Sheryl Sandberg
“What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”
• Steve Case
REVOLUTION
“Startups are the seed corn of the future.”
• Jessica Rovello
ARKADIUM
“Taking the time to hire employees who share your values will ensure a happier, more productive work environment for everyone.”
• Neil Blumenthal
WARBY PARKER
“Sometimes it takes outsiders to look at an industry and say, ‘Hey, this is broken,’ or ‘This isn’t working’ and to come in and disrupt it.”
• Richelieu Dennis
SUNDIAL BRANDS
“We had to make some decisions on how we could remain family owned and remain a community focused brand.“
• Shama Hyder
MARKETING ZEN GROUP
“Great marketing happens on both levels (digital and physical) and the more one leaks into the other, the stronger (and more effective) the marketing becomes.”
• Jia Jiang
WUJU LEARNING
• Howard Tullman
1871
“Saying ‘No’ is much harder than saying ‘Yes,’ and it’s the things that you chose not to do that will make you a success.”
• Miko Branch
MISS JESSIE’S
“The success of Miss Jessie’s really relied on a lot of failure. Many people go into business for different reasons; I went in for my personality type. I don’t like being told what to do; I wanted to be a boss.”
• Emily Heyward
RED ANTLER
“Branding, done right, is a rigorous process. Shortcuts almost always end up costing more in the end.“
• Greg Harris
QUANTUM WORKPLACE
• Dave McKeown
PREDICTABLE SUCCESS
“Solving the problems of a growing business is like fixing the landing gear on a moving plane. It has to be done, and you can’t stop to do it – you have to work it out on the go.“
• Laura Vanderkam
168 HOURS
“We have to consciously choose to spend less time on email and carve out time for the important work that matters to us.“
• Norm Brodsky
CITISTORAGE
“Sales are nice. Profits are nicer. But you live or die on cash flow.“
• Tom Gimbel
LASALLE NETWORK
“Instead of always hiring candidates based on a skillset or experience, hire people based on their desire, intelligence, passion and work ethic.“
• Hilary Folger
LIPPINCOTT
“If you’re looking to develop your own brand in the marketplace, it’s all about finding what your own unique brand positioning is. People don’t just want to buy something they want to buy into something.”
• Ami Kassar
MULTIFUNDING
“It’s tougher to get a bank loan today than it was a year-ago. If you like it or not, bankers are going to look at business plans more carefully, challenge assumptions, and worry about risk.“
• Nicole Sahin
GLOBALIZATION PARTNERS
“The evidence shows that more diverse organizations tend to be better-managed and more profitable.“
• Mary Adams
FORREST PERFORMANCE GROUP
• Tiffany Pham
MOGUL
• Jason Forrest
FPG
• Chris Schultz
LAUNCH PAD
“People here want to create their vision of the future.”
• Peter Platzer
SPIRE
• Payal Kadakia
CLASSPASS
Check out GrowCo’s agenda here