Mark Thompson

One of Americas leading venture investors

Mark Thompson has a long experience both from corporate and academic life, giving him a lot of insight into what defines a good leadership and how personal success can be achieved.

Mark is the CEO and cofounder of Virgin Unite Mentors, Sir Richard Branson’s network for executive coaching and entrepreneurial innovation and is a Founding Patron of Virgin Unite’s Entrepreneurship Centre. Mark is also Program Chairman for the Board of Governors of the Hesselbein Leadership Institute and the John F. Kennedy Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership.

Mark is Charles Schwab’s former Chief of Staff, Chief Customer Experience Officer, Chief Communications Officer and cofounder of the Schwab Foundation. He served as the Executive Producer of Schwab.com, with assets of over $1.4 Trillion. Forbes Magazine called Mark one of "America’s top investors with the ‘Midas’ touch."

He is a founding advisor of the Stanford Realtime Venture Design Lab, and a visiting scholar at his alma mater, Stanford University. He has served as faculty at the World Economic Forum and the World Business Forum. He is a member of the Clinton Initiative and an executive coach for TED.

Mark served on the Board of Directors of Best Buy, Korn Ferry and Interwoven (now owned by HP). He was Chairman of Rioport – which popularized the MP3 player prior to the iPod and iTunes and was Chairman of Integration which was acquired by Silicon Labs.

Mark is an investor in entertainment software and health care companies. He is a Founding Board Member of Smule, which is Google and Apple’s top music applications company - including a top selling app for the hit TV series Glee - with over 60 million active users. He is an investor in Cancer Genetics, a leader in DNA- based cancer diagnostics for personalized clinical management of cancer treatment.

Among his passions is Broadway. As a producer, Mark’s plays have earned five Tony Awards and ten nominations, including Peter and the StarCatcher with Disney, and StickFly with Alicia Keys. He is a partner in the Broadway Times Square Theatre, which is being converted into a 4D permanent Broadway attraction.

Topics:

Doing it All: Getting Done What Matters Most: Six steps to Passionate Engagement Despite Pressure & Change

Most Admired Company – Boost Employee Engagement: How can your team become the ‘Most Admired’ in your industry?

Make Change Happen – Success Built to Last: How do you convince your team not only to embrace change, but actually lead the transformation now – with urgency?

Build a Great Business – Boost Sales & Profit Growth: In this high-impact keynote, Mark reveals the 3 critical drivers of influence for every great business and high performance leaders.