Bobby Martin

Co-Founder of Vertical IQ, Entrepreneur, and Author

  • Bobby Martin Keynote Speaker Fee Fee range is for U.S. events, depending on location and organization type

    Please Inquire

  • Travels From

    North Carolina, USA

  • Bobby Martin Keynote Speaker Fee Fee range is for U.S. events, depending on location and organization type

    Please Inquire

  • Travels From

    North Carolina, USA

Suggested Keynote Speaker Programs

How to Get Salespeople to Think Like Founders

Successful startup founders have a certain way of looking at the world that increases chances for success. These fundamentals can be applied to corporate sales strategy and help salespeople learn to think more like founders. Bobby outlines lessons learned from his ...

Successful startup founders have a certain way of looking at the world that increases chances for success. These fundamentals can be applied to corporate sales strategy and help salespeople learn to think more like founders.

Bobby outlines lessons learned from his research of 172 successful founders and the growth-oriented leadership mindset among them, to teach audiences:

  • The fine line of entrepreneurial grit and how to get more sales through patience and tenacity
  • How to listen more and talk less. Founders understand the importance of truly listening to needs and providing the right answer at the right time.
  • When to cut your losses and move on to the next target.
  • How to Improvise, improvise, improvise. True entrepreneurs try different ways to hook fish and that extra effort is often what makes them successful.

Learn More

What Corporate Cultures can Learn from the Startup World

Startups and their founders are getting a lot of press these days, typically depicted as energy-drinking 20-somethings with a lot of time, technology and ideas at their disposal. Bobby Martin, a 20-year veteran of the startup world takes the lessons he’s learned building and...

Startups and their founders are getting a lot of press these days, typically depicted as energy-drinking 20-somethings with a lot of time, technology and ideas at their disposal. Bobby Martin, a 20-year veteran of the startup world takes the lessons he’s learned building and selling profitable companies as well as his extensive research of 172 successful startups and drills down to what key leadership traits define a successful startup founder and how to bring those lessons into the corporate world to influence a more agile, growth-oriented culture.

In this presentation, Bobby outlines some of the key findings from his years of experience and research including:

  • How to build your own luck by staying the course and finding success
  • How to recognize and create opportunity, and what to do when it comes knocking
  • The key to nurturing skill, talent and fostering with tenacity to create opportunity.
  • Knowing when (and how) to make small tweaks versus large pivots, and when it’s time to change direction entirely.

Learn More

The 4 Key Stages to Entrepreneurial Success

Using his own experience taking a project from idea to successful company, Bobby wrote his book, The Hockey Stick Principles: The 4 Key Stages to Entrepreneurial Success to help others navigate the growth stages of a startup. So many people have a great idea for a ...

Using his own experience taking a project from idea to successful company, Bobby wrote his book, The Hockey Stick Principles: The 4 Key Stages to Entrepreneurial Success to help others navigate the growth stages of a startup. So many people have a great idea for a business and then have no idea how to make that business happen.

In this presentation, Bobby teaches the 4 key stages to success and the lessons to be learned within each stage:

  • Tinkering
  • The Blade Years
  • The Growth Inflection Point
  • Surging Growth

Learn More

Hitting Takeoff

How can businesses escape what Martin terms “the Blade Years” – the first few years of a business with very little growth – and discover a repeatable business model that results in hockey stick revenue takeoff? Based upon his experience as a successful ...

How can businesses escape what Martin terms “the Blade Years” – the first few years of a business with very little growth – and discover a repeatable business model that results in hockey stick revenue takeoff?

Based upon his experience as a successful entrepreneur and his research on the revenue growth of 172 successful startups, Martin shares:

  • How long should you expect “the Blade Years” to last before turning the corner toward significant revenue growth
  • What signs should you look for to help you know you’re on the right path
  • Key ways to improve your business model to achieve takeoff growth

Learn More

About Keynote Speaker Bobby Martin

What can your company learn from successful founders’ methods for creating hockey stick revenue growth? Through his experience of starting and selling First Research (a leader in sales intelligence) for $26 Million to Fortune 500 firm, Dun & Bradstreet, and his in-depth study of 172 high-growth startups, he’s learned first-hand the challenges and solutions at each stage of entrepreneurial growth. Bobby is the author of The Hockey Stick Principles: The Four Key Stages to Entrepreneurial Success, which was named an 800CEORead Bestseller. Bobby’s current adventure is as president and co-founder of Vertical IQ, a leading provider of sales research insight for banks. Bobby is an angel investor and serves as an active board member with several innovative start-ups, including Myxx, Sageworks, Boardroom Insiders, Zynbit, myLifeSite, Local Eye Site, Vital Plan, and etailinsights. While he is a national speaker, he is still a hometown guy and focuses most of his investments in North Carolina where he currently works and resides.

Before founding First Research with Ingo Winzer in 1998, Bobby spent more than six years with Bank of America as a commercial banker in Wilmington, North Carolina. He graduated with a degree in economics and banking from Appalachian State University. Bobby is married, has two children, and is an avid tennis player.

Testimonials

You killed it at the Summit. I had a student in my office this morning going on and on about your session! He loved it.

Erich Schlenker

Managing Director, Transportation Insight Center for Entrepreneurship, Appalachian State University

Bobby Martin is by far one of the smartest entrepreneurs I have ever met. The Hockey Stick Principles culls his knowledge and pulls from the domain knowledge of other successful entrepreneurs. I love this book.

Brian Hamilton

Founder and Chairman of SageWorks

Bobby frequently speaks at Georgetown’s M.B.A. classes. He leads a energetic discussion and the students enjoy his open, frank, and honest answers to their questions.

Jeff Reid

Founding Director, Georgetown Entrepreneurship Initiative, Georgetown University

I knew the audience was engaged when I looked around the room and no one was on their cell phone. We are excited to do it again in other markets.

David Reid

Director of Marketing, Park Sterling Bank

Close

My Catalog

PDF

    This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

    Submit Clear All

    You have not added any speakers yet.