Pascal Finette

Entrepreneurship Chair & Global Evangelist, Author of The Heretic: Daily Therapeutics for Entrepreneurs

Pascal Finette

Entrepreneurship Chair & Global Evangelist, Author of The Heretic: Daily Therapeutics for Entrepreneurs

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Biography

Over nearly three decades in technology, Pascal Finette has accrued all the experience you’d want in a high-level strategic advisor. Pascal started on the net before there was a web browser. He learned his way through founding a series of technology startups, launching a consulting firm to support entrepreneurs in scaling their own, and building a portfolio investing in early-stage tech companies. Pascal held leadership positions at era-defining powerhouses Google, eBay, and Mozilla, and was the faculty chair for entrepreneurship and open innovation at Singularity University. He’s worn many hats and knows what needs to go on in the brain under each of them to lead effectively.

What makes Pascal truly one-of-a-kind, however, is his ability to translate all of this experience into teachable insights, principles, and practices. This enables him to help corporate leaders and entrepreneurs do what they all say they want to do: transform their organizations, build what matters, tackle truly meaningful challenges & create lasting, positive change in the world.

Pascal brings refreshing honesty and a zero tolerance for bullshit to the buzzy intersection of technology, global impact, and culture, where he’s established himself as a sought-after speaker and a uniquely perceptive communicator of hard truths and creative provocations. As the founder of the boutique advisory firm radical and the global productivity movement GYSHIDO — where he’s inspired thousands to embrace radical productivity and no-nonsense approaches to work — Pascal inspires, educates, and empowers leaders to make sense of accelerating change, envision the future of exponential technology, identify new opportunities, and develop successful, future-robust business strategies.

Relentlessly focused on amplifying positive change and the impact of other changemakers, Pascal is the author of the bestselling book Disrupt Disrupt – How to Decode the Future, Disrupt Your Industry, and Transform Your Business. He is also the founder of multiple nonprofit organizations focused on mentorship and women's leadership, and trained as a Co-Active executive coach working with clients to unlock their full leadership potential. Pascal serves on various digital advisory boards and chairs innovation and science initiatives at leading global organizations.

Speaker Videos

TEDTalk: The Participant Culture

Learn & Learn Again

Thriving in Exponential Times

Open Decentralized Innovation

DIE ZEIT - Smashing Ideas 2016

BSR Conference 2015 - Innovate and Inspire

Start Up Week Vienna - Never Walk

GroupM: What's Next

World Business Dialogue

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Speech Topics

Broadening Perspectives & Building Future-Ready Organizations

To navigate the challenges of an unpredictable future, you need to envision and explore a wider range of possibilities. You need to leverage actionable insights to truly transform your business into a future-forward organization. You need a new mindset – and a new toolset.

The Science of Transformation Through Positive Psychology

Our keynotes are deliberately designed around Barbara Fredrickson's groundbreaking "broaden and build" theory from positive psychology. This science-backed framework explains how positive emotional states expand thinking patterns and build lasting resources – exactly what organizations need to thrive amid uncertainty.

Beyond Information to Transformation

Our keynotes go far beyond the "sage on stage" model of information dissemination. We deliver immersive participatory experiences designed to educate, entertain, and most importantly, create measurable change. We don't hide behind fancy language, but say it like it is and focus on practical takeaway value.

Mastering the Messy Middle: Turning Uncertainty into Opportunity

In today’s hyperconnected world, we all live in the messy middle—the threshold between past and future. Discover how to harness “chaordic principles”—blending order with chaos—to transform complexity into innovation by adopting adaptive structures, clarifying purpose, and igniting agency and curiosity, so uncertainty becomes your greatest creative asset.

Decoding the Future

In a world where change is the only constant, understanding and preparing for the future has never been more critical. With our proven, practical tools and frameworks, as well as cutting-edge insights, we turn you into a “practical futurist” – ready for anything the future might throw at you.

Innovation | Disruption | Transformation

Drawing from our groundbreaking book “Disrupt Disruption,” we offer a fresh perspective that challenges conventional wisdom on the topic. Our practical approach to innovation not only demystifies the process but also equips you with the tools to innovate continuously and effectively.

Navigating Uncertainty

What worked yesterday just doesn’t work tomorrow anymore (and likely doesn’t serve you well today already). Find the answer to the question, “How do you lead into and in the unknown?” and reframe uncertainty as a window into opportunity with the help of our insights and frameworks.

Sustainable Relevance

How do you build an enduring organization in a constantly and rapidly changing world? By distilling insights from hundreds of leaders and organizations that have successfully managed change repeatedly, we offer answers to the eternal quest: “The goal of the game is to stay in the game.”

Hourglass Economics

In today’s polarized marketplace, the middle is vanishing—creating an “hourglass” where only premium and value propositions thrive. Discover why mid-market strategies are failing and how to strategically position at either end of the spectrum. Learn to “go up the stack (unbundle) or down the stack (bundle)” and transform market fragmentation from threat to competitive advantage.

Rapid Prototyping

Innovation requires action. Our rapid prototyping approach accelerates the innovation process, allowing for quick iteration and learning. This hands-on method ensures that your innovations are market-ready and poised for success—faster than ever before.

Deep Dive into (Generative) AI

Truly understand what AI is, why it matters, and why it is all happening now. Plus, plenty of practical examples, use cases, and thought-provoking explorations on where AI will go, all delivered at just the right level of detail—not too detailed and not too high-level.

Testimonials

"Our digital immersion week is now ending, we are heading into our L’Oréal Offices feeling truly energized, inspired and open to learning more as a direct result of your presentation. Thinking big, inventing the future and making it 10x times bigger. That is on everybody’s mind. We could not have hoped for a better way to end our week."

- L'Oréal

"By far one of the best presentations I have seen at any event. I found it relevant to our world of insurance and how we have to start thinking differently. He was an excellent speaker and the hour flew by."

- Munich Re

"Our clients were thrilled with your speech and many of them already asked us for your presentation."

- Itaú

"Pascal was wonderful. We only wish every keynote we hired was as professional, timely, self-sufficient, etc. His talk was perfect for our group, and he was a pleasure to work with!"

- Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation

"Wonderful to have you with us for the Endeavor Fellows program last week – I think none of us will ever be the same after your amazing lecture. From Jordan to Indonesia to Argentina to Greece, the Endeavor network is abuzz with talk of your exponential thinking and inspiration. Thank you."

- Endeavor Investor Network

"Fiercely passionate, authentic, and infectious are words that come to mind to best describe Pascal both on and off the stage. His keynote delivered a hefty dose of disruptive thinking – exactly what the industry needed at the time – and challenged every attendee to adopt the mindset of a true innovator."

- Organizer Technology Convergence Conference

"A pet a peeve of mine as an event organizer is that when you get a speaker at the advanced stage of their career they are usually groomed to the point of not really saying anything of real substance. Pascal blew me away by pulling no punches in a talk which was easily one of the highlights of #tldrconf."

- Founder tl;dr Conference

"Pascal’s talk was one of the highlights of Startup Week 2011. On every slide, with every word you could feel the passion and knowledge for the topic of entrepreneurship. Besides, he is an absolutely genuine person and always fun to talk with."

- Co-founder Pioneers

"The participants were mind blown by the presentation and I can’t imagine a better way to wrap up the programming for the week. They have been raving about it ever since and many have said it was the highlight of the whole week. Thank you again for what was truly a trip highlight and for empowering these kids to believe that they can create the future!"

- Google for Entrepreneurs & Silicon North Stars

"You blew the minds of everyone today! Your session received universal praise and it quickly became one of our all-time favorite sessions. Thank you for your time, flexibility, dynamism and inspiration."

- Endeavor

"Your presentation got the highest and most excitement of all the webinars at Bayer!!! I’m getting lots of emails and chats – people just loved it! Maybe some people are forever changed because of it."

- Bayer