Steve Sammartino

Steve Sammartino's Biography

If it’s innovative business insight your organisation and staff require then Steve Sammartino should be seriously considered for your next event. Steve Sammartino is a highly experienced marketing business person - a rare kind who has worked in the largest of companies, including the world’s biggest advertising agency and the world’s biggest Consumer Goods Company (both at Director level) as well as startups he’s founded and sold.

He’s also done a lot of crazy projects including putting a lego space shuttle into actual earth orbit, and is a Director at Australia's first new car company in over thirty years (www.tomcar.com.au).

He lectures part time at Melbourne University, and recently got a book deal with Wiley, discussing the digital revolution and what it means for business.

Steve is involved in the venture capital industry and invests in business & new technology. His blog also has over 30,000 readers a month (Startup Blog) and is the biggest in its category. It’s been in Australia's top 10 the past 5 years.

He helped with the creation of a full sized car with an engine made of lego and an engine which runs on air – it was crowdfunded via twitter.

Speaking Topics Include

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• The 200 Year Shift - An investigation into the shift from the industrial era to the digital era. A multi-generational shift for the ages which will displace dominate players and install new commercial heroes. It demonstrates how all the major factors of production are being disrupted forever. The net result being that everything is up for grabs, including the industry you are working in and the customers you are chasing.

   

• The End Of Demographics - Demographics used to be the marketer's major weapon to target an audience. A prediction model based on age, income, location and education etc. But demographics are over. Smart startups and brands can now know exactly who their community is. The connected world gives us permission to interact rather than guess and hope. The art of success in a sharing economy is about finding the intersection between the social and interest. Once we do this we are often surprised as to who our market really is – and we can reach them more efficiently.  

   

• The Big Game (gamification) - A fascinating look into the world of gamification, how everyone of us has become a willing participant in the great gaming revolution without even realising it. This presentation digs deep into our anthropological make up as humans and explains why the data industrial complex has trained us to ‘game’ commerce so that buyers and sellers can reap mutual benefits from behaviour shaping. A fascinating presentation for any brand, company or industry which deal with large numbers of customers or consumers. But also gives a template on how to get involved and build a brand with more meaning by employing some simple gaming mechanics.

   

• Retail Rebooted - A journey through the history of retail and enlightenment to the fact that current shifts in retail are in actuality a move back to the patterns of when the concept of retail first emerged. A thorough look at all the modern trends and changes to the retail landscape. Paying homage to the contribution of technological enablement and emerging social behaviour. Finishing with clear advice on how to reinvent any brand or retailers view on how to retail successfully in the digital era.

   

• 10 Years in Tech - A review of how much technology has changed our lives in just the past 10 years. It reviews new tools, platforms, gadgets, modes of living and technology which reminds us we really are living through a revolution for the ages. This presentation surprises and delights as to how recent some of the changes are and how much of an impact they have had on culture and economics. It reviews consumer and business implications and prepares us for what is next with a peek into the future and new technologies about to arrive.

   

• The Future Of Innovation - A personal journey through the Super Awesome Micro Project something I am the founder and chief architect of, which proves the template for real innovation is changed forever. The Super Awesome Micro Project is a crowd funded project via twitter where 40 people from Melbourne commissioned a teenage genius from Romania to build a full size car entirely from lego, with an engine made from lego and the engine runs on air. The car is now finished and can push 750kg’s over 50km per hour. The entire project was managed entirely over the internet with people who have never met each other. This is the story of how we did it, and how anyone can once they know the tools and tricks.

   

• The End Of Selfish - A story which shows how selfish large corporations have been for the past 100 years and why it’s broken. A timely revision of mainstream marketing methodologies which shows the flip of power from the producer to the consumer and why their evil deeds and coming back to haunt them. But for those interested in giving back and paying it forward the future is bright. This goes through the art of giving to our audience and performing for them so they can feed our brand into the future so any organization who signs up to this reality can win big.  

   

• Bigger than the Internet - 3D printing - An introduction to the world of 3D printing and the story of how we are now capable of turning information into actual things. Bits into atoms. A detailed history into the evolution of the technology, it’s current capabilities and what we can expect in a few short years. Multi material 3D printers, replicating household items, external scanning of things with moving parts to make another or a spare part, and even printing computer hardware. The talk covers the consumer impact it will have akin to the personal computing revolution of the 1980’s, which industries it will disrupt, innovation within the startup industry around it and how any business can benefit from 3D printing. During the talk I bring along my 3D printer and also demonstrate the process in action.

   

• The Digital Landscape - A summary of the digital life we are living through today. It covers all the key tools, trends, and human behaviour within the digital realm. A great & entertaining summary for those with less experience and knowledge in the digital space.

   

• The Power Flip - A story about how small scale businesses, SME’s, entrepreneurs and startups have all the advantages in a digital world. That the power is now in the hands of the many, and not the industrial sized few. This presentation demonstrates how the digital revolution is designed for all things small and that big infrastructure is unsuited to the emerging environment. It covers the reasons, the tools and the methods which can ensure the small leverage the power flip for profit.

   

• The art of outsourcing - In a web connected world any person or company can get anyone to do or make anything for them. But there is an art to it. Whether it is using on-line services for web development, administration or getting products made in chine, it’s a tricky process to master. This presentation goes through all the nuances, structural, economic and culturally to navigate the process successfully. Full of tricks and tips to save your time and money to outsource profitably.

   

• The age of the intrapreneur - The importance and need for intrapreneurs in large companies during a time of revolution. It covers why it matters now more than ever, and how companies can nurture their internal entrepreneurs. It also provides a path that people inside organisations can follow to sell their dreams and bootstrap innovation internally both quickly and cheaply using startup methodology.

   

• The coming finance disruption - A review of evolving technology and startups in the banking and finance sector which is working to chip away at and fragment the financial sector. In a virtual world of transfers and payments, technology companies and consumers are starting to realize they don’t need banks to transact with each other, or even store their cash reserves. It reviews how the banks business is being disrupted by many companies doing parts of what banks do – rather than competing directly. A stealth fragmentation of their industry.  

   

• The Quantified Self- A summary of the emerging wearable computing sector and technology. Google Glass, Watches, Fit bits and everything else. How will they impact our life and lead us into the age of the quantifiable self. A world where we use our personal data to improve our lives and health. How it will impact the way we live, companies and commerce.

   

• Two weeks in tech - A presentation only covering events from the previous 2 weeks on the topic of technology. This is configured to prove how rapid the pace of change is in business today. Invariably this presentation will cover important factors within every industry which have a deep long term structural impact. After reviewing the events, I tie each one back to the business of the audience and show how it impacts their business directly. It’s a great way for staff and management alike to sit up and pay attention to how quick their world is changing.

   

• Brand you - A review of the history of work as humans: From hunters & gatherers, to farmers, to craftsman to employees and to the future of us all being entrepreneurs. An inevitable process of supply chain fragmentation and deconstructed workplaces. It explores how to build your personal brand to get ready for the process – regardless of which industry you work in.

   

• Amazing Aviation - The history of aviation over the past 100+ years on culture, humanity and business. Interesting and quirky facts of the first pre-web technology that brought people closer and made the world a richer place. The birth of ‘globalization’ What we can learn from it in the internet age.