Rob Schoeben
Startup Advisor/Storytelling Coach
Description
As the principal of The Distillery, Rob is a strategic advisor, mentor and executive coach for tech startups and social entrepreneurs. He is uniquely adept at helping innovators develop a winning strategy and craft a compelling story to attract investment, partners, employees and market share. For the past few years, Rob has been an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at USC’s Marshall School of Business. His most recent full-time gig was as Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer at Carbon, a disruptive 3D printing startup in Silicon Valley, where he orchestrated the company’s dramatic emergence from stealth at TED2015. Rob also spent six years as a Vice President at Apple, where he directed worldwide product marketing for applications software and Internet services, working closely with Steve Jobs on product development, high-visibility launch events, and overall marketing strategy.
Suggested Questions
- What are some of the best ways to "set the hook" when pitching to investors?
- Can you provide an example of a startup that successfully demonstrated they were more than just a marketing machine? How did they do it?
- What is your perspective on the different types of failure and their impacts?
- What lessons did you learn from working with Steve Jobs that you've carried with you?
- What stories from class do you think were most impactful for students to hear in more color and a personalized context?
- How did your involvement with Heirloom evolve from being an informal advisor to becoming a board member?
- How do you think the emphasis on profitability and unit economics in 2024 compares to the focus on marketing and fundraising in 2021?
- What do you consider as proof that a startup is more than just a marketing machine?
- How do you convince an audience that the present is the right time to address a problem and pursue a solution?
- How do you effectively convey the importance of a problem to your audience before discussing your qualifications or business details?