Dr. Travis Steffen

Dr. Travis Steffen is a strategist and organization builder with eight exits as a founder, co-founder, or CEO.

For twenty years he has done two things: designed strategies and built the organizations to carry them out. He has started companies from nothing and taken the CEO seat at companies on the brink. Both taught him the same lesson. Strategy is a decision about what the organization will become. Great strategy exploits the decisions your competitors have already committed to.

He believes execution is being commoditized by AI, and that judgment, decision-making, and strategy are about to be worth more than ever. That is where he spends his time.

He started his first company in 2006 and hasn't stopped operating since. He's raised nearly $150 million across the companies he's led, put companies on the Inc. 500, and built relationships with the brokers and acquirers who decide what a company is worth when it's time to sell.

He mentors founders at Techstars, 500 Startups, SOSV, MassChallenge, and a dozen other accelerators, speaks at business schools around the world, and advises multiple companies as a board member. He holds an MA, an MBA, and a Doctorate of Business Administration.

The instinct for high-pressure situations isn't new. He played Division I football at the University of Northern Iowa, competed in professional MMA, lived in a Muay Thai camp in southern Thailand, ran ultramarathons and adventure races, and cashed in multiple World Series of Poker events as a former online poker pro. It's the same temperament he brings to a boardroom: comfortable where most people fold.

Travis lives in Southern California with his wife and young son. Current roles are on LinkedIn.