Keynote – Suneel Gupta

Bestselling Author, Harvard Instructor, Entrepreneur

Suneel Gupta teaches innovation at Harvard University, is the founder of RISE, and the author of the book Backable—exploring how to get people to believe in your ideas. The book is rooted in Suneel’s journey from first-time entrepreneur to being named “The New Face of Innovation” by the New York Stock Exchange. Suneel’s ideas have been backed by firms like Greylock and Google Ventures, and he served as an Entrepreneur in Residence inside Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. He has personally backed startups including Impossible Foods, AirBnB, 23&Me, Calm, and SpaceX. 

In presentations, Suneel looks at how to spark and accelerate innovation, capitalize on disruptions to build a digital product from scratch, and manage the hyper-growth that follows. Audiences leave his talks with memorable stories, science-based insights, and immediately usable techniques to turn their ideas into an inspiring vision that captivates attention and inspires action.

In 2018, Suneel ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Michigan’s 11th Congressional District. Before running for Congress, Suneel co-founded and served as CEO of RISE, a mobile health company that partnered with Michelle Obama to lower the cost of quality care for thousands of patients. Just two years after launch, One Medical acquired RISE and was named the most innovative company in health by Fast Company.

An expert at accelerating growth and innovation, in less than two years Suneel helped grow Groupon from a tiny startup into a multi-billion-dollar company. Prior to serving as Groupon’s first vice president of product, he built products for Mozilla as their director of product development.

Suneel is also a lawyer and filmmaker. He started his career in the Clinton White House where he served as a speechwriter, learning from West Wing staffers like Michael McCurry and Rahm Emanuel. A few years later, he was asked to co-author the national platform for the Democratic Party. 

In the media world, Suneel blogged for MTV and produced the Kahani Movement, an interactive film project about the first generation of Indian-Americans, which debuted at South by Southwest with his brother, Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN. He also worked for the president of Sony Pictures Television when the studio was investing in new creative concepts like Breaking Bad.

Suneel has always moved quickly. In less than six years total, he earned a B.S. from the University of Michigan, an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management, and a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law. He also is the co-founder at Gross National Happiness Center of America in partnership with the Kingdom of Bhutan.

SESSION: KEYNOTE - TURN YOUR IDEAS INTO REALITY