Andy Stefanovich (born 1966) is an American speaker, bestselling author, and business consultant.[1][2] A native of Detroit, Michigan, Stefanovich is currently the founding partner of a consulting firm called Life. Previously, he was a partner with Richmond, Virginia-based venture capital firm New Richmond Ventures LLC.[3][4] Before that, Stefanovich was "chief curator and provocateur" at Prophet, a global business and creative consulting firm headquartered in San Francisco.[5][6][7]

Andy Stefanovich
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)consultant, author, speaker
Known formarketing, speaking

Early career and Prophet edit

Stefanovich graduated from Miami University in Ohio.[1] In 1990, he founded Opus Event Marketing after having worked in the sales department of Ritz-Carlton.[8] The company originally focused on event planning for corporations, but eventually shifted into a creative marketing firm focusing on product development, branding, and positioning; working with organizations and businesses such as Colgate-Palmolive, American Express, Calvin Klein, Disney, Oscar Mayer and the U.S. Olympic Committee.[1][9][10] In 1999, the company was renamed Play, and Stefanovich remained as founder.[11][12]

Play was acquired in 2009 by Prophet, where Stefanovich was named senior partner.[13] As part of the acquisition, Play's Richmond location became part of the Prophet network of offices.[14] Stefanovich regularly speaks at corporations such as Coca-Cola, Disney, General Electric, and Procter & Gamble.[15]

Local ventures & activism edit

In 2011, Stefanovich co-founded a venture capital firm called New Richmond Ventures (NRV) with three other prominent Richmond businessmen: Bob Mooney, Jim Ukrop, and Theodore Chandler Jr.[4][7] NRV has a focus on local and "social impact" and has made early-stage investments in a number of companies including MedCPU, PlanG, and Plugless Power.[16][17] In addition to NRV, Stefanovich co-founded a second local incubator in 2012 called Men in Shirts that invests in 3 or 4 companies each year in the $50–$150,000 range. Their investments include Richmond-based men's shirtmakers, Ledbury, and a brewery named Ardent Craft Ales. In addition to capital, Stefanovich provides "marketing and strategy advice."[18] In 2013, Stefanovich curated Richmond's first TEDx event—called TEDxRVA—around the theme "CREATE".[19]

Speaker and author edit

Stefanovich is a frequent guest on CNBC, where he talks about innovation and thought leadership, and Fast Company.[20][21][22][23] Stefanovich is also a visiting professor and guest lecturer at universities including Yale University, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Duke University, and Dartmouth College.[1] He has delivered several TEDx speeches, including for NASA, London Business School, and TEDxYouth.[24][25][26]

In 2011, Jossey-Bass, an imprint of Wiley Publishing published Stefanovich's first book Look at More: A Proven Approach to Innovation, Growth, and Change.[27][28] Look at More was an Inc. bestseller and named one of Ad Age's "Ten Marketing Books You Should Have Read" in 2011. [29][30][31]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d Llovio, Louis. Andy Stefanovich looks to get people and companies to think creatively. Richmond Times Dispatch. June 4, 2012.
  2. ^ Leonard, Deanna. 7 Innovation Questions for Andy Stefanovich. innovationexcellence.com. October 10, 2011.
  3. ^ "Andy Stefanovich: Executive Profile". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. July 14, 2023.[dead link]
  4. ^ a b New Richmond Ventures principal Andy Stefanovich offers ex-pat view of Detroit Archived October 21, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. "Michigan Venture Capital Association". October 9, 2014.
  5. ^ Stainbum, Samantha (September 12, 2011). "How to make innovation a part of even the smallest firm's everyday routine". Crain's Chicago Business.
  6. ^ McDonough-Taub, Gloria (August 5, 2011). "Business Lessons from the Beastie Boys". CNBC.
  7. ^ a b Hazard, Carol.>Firm Seeks to Liberate Entrepreneurs. Richmond Times-Dispatch. November 26, 2012.
  8. ^ "EVENTS & PROMOTIONS: ON A ROLL: ANDREW STEFANOVICH". Ad Age. May 26, 1997.
  9. ^ Dahle, Cheryl. Mind Games. Fast Company. December 31, 1999.
  10. ^ Andy Stefanovich Profile. Fast Company. December 31, 1999.
  11. ^ "Huffington Post Profile". Huffington Post.
  12. ^ "Andy Stefanovich Innovation, Growth and Change". BoxofCrayons.biz. August 31, 2011.
  13. ^ "Prophet acquires Play". MandMGlobal.com. January 14, 2009. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
  14. ^ Hodge, Sally Saville (January 14, 2009). "Prophet and Play Join Forces". PR Newswire.
  15. ^ Spicer, Paul (July 18, 2011). "Dig That Gig: Andy Stefanovich, Chief Curator and Provocateur at Prophet".
  16. ^ Move Forward in their Own Words Archived May 17, 2014, at archive.today. GRID. February 4, 2014.
  17. ^ NRV Companies Archived May 17, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. New Richmond Ventures Website. cited May 16, 2014.
  18. ^ Dovi, Chris (December 10, 2013). "Capital City: A panel of Richmond investors who put their minds and money behind local startups". Richmond Magazine.
  19. ^ Erickson, Christine (March 28, 2013). "Why Small Cities Are the Lifeblood of TEDx". Mashable.
  20. ^ Deutsch, Donny (October 20, 2008). "Human Resources". CNBC.
  21. ^ Goldman, Beth (October 14, 2008). "CNBC PRESENTS "COLLABORATION NOW," A FIVE-PART PRIMETIME GLOBAL SERIES". CNBC.
  22. ^ "THE BUSINESS OF INNOVATION SERIES". RCTM.com. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
  23. ^ 30 Second MBA Archived April 5, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Fast Company. Cited December 12, 2012.
  24. ^ TEDxNASA. "Provocative Questions and Bold Statements". YouTube.
  25. ^ TEDxLondonBusinessSchool. "The Museum Mentality". YouTube. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  26. ^ TEDxYouth. "Play and Prophet". YouTube.
  27. ^ Smith, Dave (April 4, 2011). "How to Institutionalize Inspiration in Your Company". Inc.
  28. ^ Stefanovich, Andy (2011). Look at More: A Proven Approach to Innovation, Growth, and Change. Jossey-Bass. p. 208. ISBN 978-0470949771.
  29. ^ "Washington Speakers Profile". WashingtonSpeakers.com.
  30. ^ "33voices Interview". 33voices.
  31. ^ "Ten Marketing Books You Should Have Read". Ad Age. December 12, 2011.

External links edit