Named one of “America’s Best Leaders” by U.S. News and one of TIME’s 100 “Innovators for the 21st century,” Linda Rottenberg is considered among the most dynamic experts on entrepreneurship, innovation, and leadership. A frequent lecturer at Fortune 500 companies, and subject of multiple Harvard and Stanford business school case studies, Rottenberg has won acclaim for her pioneering work. ABC and NPR declared her “the entrepreneur whisperer,” Tom Friedman dubbed her the world’s “mentor capitalist,” Business Insider named her “Ms. Davos,” and for years she was known as “la chica loca” (the crazy girl) for insisting that entrepreneurs existed not only in Silicon Valley but also in emerging markets across the globe.
Rottenberg is Co-founder and CEO of Endeavor, the leading organization supporting high-impact entrepreneurs. Headquartered in New York with 50 offices worldwide, Endeavor identifies, mentors, and co-invests in individuals with the likeliest potential to build companies that matter and grow, and the greatest ability to inspire others. Since 1997, Rottenberg’s network has screened 45,000 candidates, handpicked 1,000+ Endeavor Entrepreneurs, and helped accelerate their businesses to provide 500,000 jobs and generate $8 billion annually. In 2013, Endeavor brought its proven scale-up model to the U.S, and in 2015 Endeavor won the prestigious Kravis Prize for Nonprofit Leadership. Rottenberg and her colleagues now also run Endeavor Catalyst, LP, a $35MM impact fund that co-invests in Endeavor Entrepreneurs.
Rottenberg is also author of the New York Times bestseller, CRAZY IS A COMPLIMENT: The Power of Zigging When Everyone Else Zags, published in October 2014. In her book, she argues that entrepreneurship isn’t just for young techies in hoodies. Whether you work at a Fortune 500 company, a non-profit, a mom-and-pop, or a startup, everybody needs the mindset to think and act like a change-maker. We all need to be nimble, adaptive, daring, and maybe even a little crazy, or risk being left behind.
Rottenberg serves on the board of Zayo Group, a publicly traded company based in Boulder (NYSE: ZAYO). She a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and serves on the entrepreneurship steering committee of the World Economic Forum.
Rottenberg has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Economist, Financial Times, USA Today, Strategy + Business, People, Glamour, and MORE, and has appeared on GMA, The Today Show, Morning Joe, Nightline, NPR, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, Fox Business, and Bloomberg News. Dell featured her in its “Take Your Own Path” ad campaign and Veuve Clicquot named her Businesswoman of the Year.
A graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School, Linda Rottenberg lives in Brooklyn with her husband, author and New York Times columnist Bruce Feiler, and their identical twin daughters.