Speaking
I love speaking — keynotes, fireside chats, and workshops on AI, consumer social, and what it takes to build inside both a startup and a giant. Available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Talks I give
Pick the closest fit — I’ll tailor to your audience. Custom talks welcome too.
Scaling generative AI from 0 to 100M MAU
How Microsoft shipped DALL-E and Stable Diffusion inside Copilot, the product decisions that took it from launch to mainstream consumer scale, and what stayed surprisingly hard at every order of magnitude. Practical lessons for product leaders and founders building on top of foundation models.
Riding the platform wave: building consumer social on top of someone else’s network
The SwipeHouse story — going from a bunkbed in Mountain View to an App Store top-150 ranking and an acquisition by riding TikTok’s creator-economy moment. What worked, what almost killed us, and how to think about platform risk before you build on top of one.
From rural Minnesota to Forbes 30u30: a playbook for ambitious outsiders
For audiences who don’t feel like they have the “starter pack.” The actual moves that took me from a public high school in Cloquet to Harvard, Y Combinator, and the founding team of Microsoft Copilot — and the moves that didn’t.
What the creator economy is still missing
The brand-to-creator side of the creator economy is built. The creator-to-creator side mostly isn’t. From SwipeHouse + Copilot, a builder’s view of where the gaps are, who fills them, and what the next decade of creator tooling looks like.
Building products inside a giant: shipping AI at Microsoft Copilot
What it actually takes to ship novel AI products from inside a 200,000-person company. How to move like a startup when you’re not, why I was hired as a VP exception, and the playbook for getting hard things shipped at scale.
Formats
Keynote
30-60 min stage talk with Q&A. Best for conferences and large internal events.
Fireside chat
Moderated conversation. Often the most engaging format for founder + investor audiences.
Workshop / masterclass
Working session with founders or product teams. AI product strategy, consumer social, or building inside large orgs.
Panel
Topic-led panel discussions. Especially good for AI + creator economy events.
Selected venues
Recent stages and audiences. Full speaking history on my about page.
Booking & logistics
Fees
Let’s talk — I scale based on event type. Open to pro-bono for universities, K-12, and aligned nonprofits.
Travel
US-based (Minnesota / Cambridge). Open to international, particularly Latin America and Europe. Travel + lodging covered for in-person events.
Lead time
4-6 weeks ideal. I can sometimes move faster — ask.
Tech
I bring slides, demo videos, and product walk-throughs. Happy to do live coding or product demos when relevant.
Book a talk
Easiest path: message me on LinkedIn with the event, audience, date, and the topic you’re drawn to. I respond personally.