Peter Hinssen Speaking Topics

• The Phoenix and the Unicorn

  Unicorn start-ups are brilliant. But, let’s be honest, very few of us will start one, become one, or work for one. Most of us are connected to large companies that often struggle to keep themselves relevant for the ever-changing customer. That’s why this keynote is about a creature that’s just as magical but perhaps offers a more realistic inspiration: the Phoenix. These are the companies that – just like this mythical bird – are able to rethink themselves in cycles: time and time again they rise from the ashes of the old, and come out stronger than ever before. They are the Walmarts, the Volvos, the Disneys, the Apples, the Microsofts, the Ping Ans, the Assa Abloys and AT&Ts of this world.

• The Never Normal

  We’re at a crossroads. Certainly since the COVID-19 crisis but even before that, we have been evolving into a world with many new types of disruptions. There’s this potent cocktail of global platforms, information, intelligence, and automation that is accelerating the pace of change. But technology is no longer the biggest driver of disruption. What’s coming at us is ecological, biological, societal and geopolitical in nature and this is just the beginning. These many disruptions are going to evolve into seismic shocks that will completely overturn how we live and work. Think about the rising sea levels we might experience the next decades. Or pandemics like COVID-19. Or the cold (trade) war between the US and China.

A World without Order

As we're drawn further into the 21st century by the dawn of a new decade, the very concept of 'world order' seems more elusive than ever before. Literally, because we're now down to what Ian Bremmer calls a G-zero world: a post-G-20, post-G-8 and post-G-7 era with a geopolitical landscape that is more unstable than at the peak of the Cold War during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Figuratively because a series of seismic shocks, that are societal, ecological, technological and biological in nature, have taken away any global form of structure or predictability. While we have been busy managing our countries and companies locally, entropy has been devouring our overarching systems.

The Two Faces of Innovation: Insights from Silicon Valley & China

Silicon Valley and China’s tech ecosystem cities (such as Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Shanghai) are the fastest evolving innovation hubs in the world. But inspiration from pioneering startups, corporates and academics from these distant corners of the globe should not be an ‘either, or’ story. Each has its very own background, innovation DNA, culture, methods and strategies. Each has the potential to trigger you in ways you’d never thought possible.

And who better to inspire you in the matter than serial entrepreneur & Silicon Valley aficionado Peter Hinssen and China evangelist Pascal Coppens?