Agenda | GrowCo Conference

For people attending the tours please be in the main hotel lobby arrival/departure tunnel at the times listed below.

11:45 am Magazine Walking Tour
12:00 pm Tour of Blaine Kern Studios/Mardi Gras World
12:15 pm Musicians’ Village and the Ellis Marsalis Center

Registration is open from 2:00pm – 7:00pm | Location: Elite Hall Foyer

Space is limited.  Please be prompt.

Location: Elite Hall B

Eric Schurenberg, editor in chief, Inc.

Mitchell J. Landrieu, Mayor, New Orleans

Über Entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson is perhaps the only person who can say “been there, done that” about both an airline and a railroad. Now, Branson is now working his way through a to-do list that includes ferrying people into space (Virgin Galactic), traveling to the deepest parts of the world’s five oceans (Virgin Oceanic), and ridding the atmosphere of 25 gigatons of carbon (The Carbon War Room). In an exclusive Inc. event, Branson joins us for a live, no-holds-barred conversation where he opens up about his awe-inspiring entrepreneurial journey and ever-growing empire. This is your opportunity to learn from a master teacher. Seize it!

Speaker: Sir Richard Branson, founder, Virgin Group
Interviewer: Eric Schurenberg, editor-in-chief, Inc.

Location: Elite Hall B

Location: Elite Hall A

Location: Elite Hall Foyer

Eric Schurenberg, editor-in-chief, Inc. | Location: Elite Hall B

Baratunde Thurston is a technology-loving comedian from the future who cares enough about the world to engage with it politically. Best known for his creative experimentation with new digital platforms and proven ability to engage communities, President Obama called him “someone I need to know.” With an ancestry that includes a great-grandfather who taught himself to read, a grandmother who was the first black employee at the U.S. Supreme Court Building, and a mother who took over radio stations in the name of the black liberation struggle, Thurston has long been taught to question authority. Learn from this creative and inquisitive mind how to be a standout in both the digital and the real world.

Speaker: Baratunde Thurston, co-founder Jack & Jill Politics; founder, Cultivated Wit; author, How To Be Black

Location: Elite Hall B

Is success in business a transient, hard-to-define combination of hard work, judgment, and good luck? Or do all successful organizations follow similar patterns that, once understood, are predictable and repeatable? In this working session, learn specific, inspired advice and a proven strategy for how to drive your organization forward. As a leading adviser on accelerating business growth, best-selling author Les McKeown focuses on helping CEOs of companies large and small uncover breakthrough growth strategies. He has fought every business battle, and in this session he’ll reveal how any organization can get to the stage called Predictable Success-in which it is producing scalable, profitable growth. His message enables anyone, at any level, in any company to build the skills to motivate, engage, and align the team in order to take the company to the next level.

Speaker: Les McKeown, Inc.com, columnist; president and CEO, Predictable Success; author, Predictable Success

Location: Elite Hall B

Baratunde Thurston; Les McKeown

Location: Elite Hall A

Howard A. Tullman may be the most accomplished, best-connected entrepreneur you’ve never heard of—but need to know. This serial entrepreneur, educator, and venture investor offers the latest emerging trends—each intersecting with social media and technology—that will change the way any growing business in every industry will operate and relate to its customers, employees, vendors, lenders, and partners. In this session, you’ll learn how to leverage social media and technology platforms to expand your business. You’ll hear about the newest technologies, the latest social-media tools, ways to better understand customer acquisition, and how to drive and build traffic.

Speaker: Howard A. Tullman, president & CEO of Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy

Location: Elite Hall B

From launching to expanding several successful businesses—with one being sold for more than $100 million—Norm Brodsky has just about done it all. With a decades spanning entrepreneurial journey as his base, the best-selling author and Inc. columnist will tackle taboo business topics and your most pressing challenges in this no-holds barred conversation about the ups, downs, dos, and don’ts of entrepreneurship. The one-of-a-kind entrepreneur will be joined onstage by Bo Burlingham, Street Smarts co-author and Inc. editor-at-large. Learn from these two partners in crime how best to grow your business well beyond the barriers.

Speaker: Norm Brodsky, founder, CitiStorage; partner, Black Gold Suites; co-author, Street Smarts: An All-Purpose Tool Kit for Entrepreneurs; columnist, Inc.

Interviewer: Bo Burlingham, editor-at-large, Inc.; author, Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big; co-author, Street Smarts: An All-Purpose Tool Kit for Entrepreneurs

Location: Elite Hall B

Exchange contact information and sharp observations about what it means to start or run a business. Enjoy the meal as you make lasting connections with potential partners, colleagues, and friends.

Location: Elite Hall A

Norm Brodsky, Bo Burlingham, Howard A. Tullman

Choose from one of these hands on, practical concurrent sessions covering topics that are essential to growing your business!

Where’s the Money? Where to Look and Who to Ask (Location:Strand 10)
Going for Growth: How to Scale Your Business the Right Way (Location: Strand 11B)
Why Your Business Should Be Sellable—and How to Make Sure It Is (Location: Strand 11A)
Values, Culture, and You: What it Really Takes to Lead a Growing Company (Location: Bolden 6)

Bo Burlingham, Les McKeown, Paul Spiegelman

Location: ELITE HALL A

Got a question? Bring it. Stop by for personal, one-on-one advice from some of the seasoned entrepreneurs and experts speaking at the conference. Also, meet and connect with the editors and writers of Inc. and Inc.com.

Location: ELITE HALL A

Think you have the perfect business pitch? We’ll be the judge of that. Join us and an all-star panel of seasoned entrepreneurs and experts for Inc.’s Enrich Your Pitch Contest. In this fast-paced competition, entrepreneurs will go head-to-head for the chance to win big. Contestants will have 90 seconds to make their best pitch in front of a live audience. Our judges will then ask questions, provide feedback, and ultimately choose a winner. Come be a part of the action as you watch it all unfold live onstage. Learn from the best what to say and how to say it so you don’t leave money on the table.

Host: Scott Case
Judges: Norm Brodsky ,Allison Fass,  Robbie Vitrano, Howard A. Tullman

Location: Elite Hall B

Location: Elite Hall A

Location: Elite Hall Foyer

Got a question? Bring it. Stop by for personal, one-on-one advice from some of the seasoned entrepreneurs and experts speaking at the conference. Also, meet and connect with the editors and writers of Inc. and Inc.com.

Location: ELITE HALL A

Eric Schurenberg, editor-in-chief, Inc.| Location: Elite Hall B

It’s hard to describe exactly what Robbie Vitrano does—but that’s because he does so much. Vitrano has spent 25 years in the advertising business growing Trumpet, his branding agency. He is the co-founder of The Idea Village, an entrepreneurship hub. After Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans native opened the Icehouse, a 12,000-square-foot commercial real estate development in the Seventh Ward that includes office space for entrepreneurs. In 2006, Vitrano co-founded Naked Pizza, an all-natural fast-food joint with nearly 30 franchise locations and investors like billionaire businessman Mark Cuban backing it. Learn from Vitrano what it takes to build a profitable, scalable business, how to find your place within the marketplace, and the challenges in expanding your brand. The serial (social) entrepreneur will also explain why you need to scale fast, and why he believes the key to a resilient company is a clear, strong social mission and roots in the local community.

Speaker: Robbie Vitrano, co-founder and chairman, Trumpet; co-founder, The Idea Village; co-owner, Naked Pizza.

Location: Elite Hall B

In his leadership of Whole Foods Market, John Mackey has become a role model for conscious capitalism: businesses operating from a sense of higher purpose and prospering financially while generating other critical forms of value—emotional, social, intellectual, ecological, and spiritual. Learn how he did it, why he did it, and what you can do within your industry to make a difference that can potentially revolutionize the business landscape.

Speaker: John Mackey, co-founder and co-CEO, Whole Foods Market; co-author,
Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

Interviewer: Lewis Schiff, executive director, Inc. Business Owners Council; author,
Business Brilliant: Surprising Lessons From the Greatest Self-Made Business Icons

Location: Elite Hall B

Location: Elite Hall A

On a quest to find information on how to manage her personal finances, Alexa von Tobel ended up overwhelmed and disappointed. Thus she founded LearnVest.com, a website offering affordable and accessible financial advice for women. Since launching the company in 2009, von Tobel has raised $25 million and won numerous accolades (including being among Inc.’s “30 Under 30: Coolest Young Entrepreneurs”). Learn how von Tobel built her company from the ground up and her tips for raising capital, knowing your customer, marketing on a limited budget, and more.

Speaker: Alexa von Tobel, founder and CEO of LearnVest.com

Location: Elite Hall B

New York, kitchen, and now Carol’s Daughter is one of the Home Shopping Network’s top beauty brands. So it’s not surprising that her company has become a household name. Today, Carol’s Daughter is enjoying continuous growth. Price will share with us her ingenious business recipe—the strategies, struggles, and successes—that led to her dramatic rise in the highly competitive beauty and cosmetics industry. Learn from her inspiring business journey how to get your product into the right hands; what it takes to lure investors and successfully penetrate the home shopping industry; and how to craft a marketing strategy that gives you leverage.

Speaker: Lisa Price, founder and president, Carol’s Daughter; author, Success Never Smelled So Sweet: How I Followed My Nose and Found My Passion

Location: Elite Hall B

No, it’s not a bakery. Johnny Cupcakes is a lifestyle brand that sells limited-edition, collectible T-shirts and other apparel—often featuring its signature image of cupcakes and crossbones—online and at its stores. Johnny Earle started the business in 2001 out of the trunk of his ’89 Camry. Today, the tasty T-shirt company is a multiyear Inc. 5000 honoree with millions in sales. Hundreds of superloyal customers camp outside the faux bakeries in Los Angeles, London, and throughout Massachusetts for its merchandise. In this session, Earle explains how Johnny Cupcakes grew from a “joke” to a successful brand driven by community, creativity, details, and exclusivity. His unpredictable success highlights the fundamental connection between the person and the brand. Learn how to keep your business fresh and find out why Johnny Earle’s personal passion involves bringing out the kid in everyone.

Speaker: Johnny Earle, founder and head chef of a bakery that isn’t, Johnny Cupcakes

Location: Elite Hall B

Continue to converse and connect as you enjoy a meal complete with great food and company.

Location: Elite Hall A

Dave Kerpen, Lewis Schiff, Paul Spiegelman

Location: ELITE HALL A       

Got a question? Bring it. Stop by for personal, one-on-one advice from some of the seasoned entrepreneurs and experts speaking at the conference.

Location: ELITE HALL A

7 Simple Social Media Concepts to Drive Results (Location: Strand 10)
How to Trust Your Crazy Ideas…hosted by The Idea Village (Location: Bolden 6)
How to Do Good and Make Money: Achieving Passions and (Yes!) Profits (Location: Strand 11B)
How I Got It Right with My Second Company—Overcome Challenge and Change (Location: Strand A)

Dave Kerpen, Lewis Schiff

Location: Strand Foyer