Verne Harnish

ScaleUp expert. World-renowned speaker. Bestselling author.

Founder of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, founder and CEO of Scaling Up, and author of Scaling Up and Start to Scale — Verne has spent four decades helping companies scale up.

Verne Harnish
Verne Harnish in the studio
ScaleUp Expert
Four decades helping companies scale up
Verne Harnish keynoting Business Boost Live
Keynote Speaker
Top rated at events worldwide
Verne Harnish portrait
Bestselling Author
Scaling Up — translated into 26 languages
About Verne

Verne's Bio

Verne Harnish is founder of the world-renowned Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), with over 20,000 members worldwide, and founded and chaired for fifteen years EO’s premiere CEO program held at MIT, a program in which he still teaches today.

Founder and CEO of Scaling Up, a global executive education and coaching company with over 290 partners on six continents, Verne has spent the past four decades helping companies scaleup.

He’s the author of Mastering the Rockefeller Habits; authored The Greatest Business Decisions of All Times, for which Jim Collins wrote the foreword; wrote Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0) which has been translated into 26 languages and has won eight major international book awards including the International Book Award for Best General Business book; and is the co-author of Scaling Up Compensation. His latest book is Start to Scale.

Verne serves on several boards including vice chair of The Riordan Clinic; co-founder and chair of Geoversity; and board member of the social venture Million Dollar Women. A private investor in many scaleups, Verne enjoys piano, tennis, and magic as a card-carrying member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

Verne Harnish speaking on stage in Europe
IndustryWired award — Verne Harnish, Top Inspiring Business Leaders of the Year 2020
Recognition

Recognised among the Top Inspiring Business Leaders

IndustryWired named Verne to its Top Inspiring Business Leaders of the Year 2020 — an annual listing of leaders driving significant business transformation, opening new ways to create value, and facilitating effective decision-making across organisations globally.

His book Scaling Up has won eight major international book awards, including the International Book Award for Best General Business book.

Testimonials

What event organizers say

“Verne’s opening keynote address to our audience of over 850 Entrepreneurs was phenomenal. Of the 18 other celebrity and high profile keynote and breakout speakers, Verne was the highest rated (9.4 out of 10) and most talked about the speaker of the entire event. Verne’s amazingly insightful presentation drew a standing ovation, set the tone for the entire event, and left everyone feeling ready to learn even more. Verne absolutely ROCKED Nashville Nerve 2015.”

Arnie Malham
Founder/President, cj Advertising and Legal Intake Professionals; Learning Chair, Nerve 2015 Nashville

“Verne’s insights and remarks on Dominating Your Industry: The Four Critical Decisions were enthusiastically received by the audience and helped to make this a memorable event for all involved. His session earned a unanimous 6 out of 6 (the equivalent of a 10), with such comments as Outstanding session!, High energy-high value speaker!, and Should have been longer!”

Joan Walsh Cassedy, CAE
Executive Director, American Council of Independent Laboratories

“Verne keynoted our Growth Summit in Ulaanbaatar where he presented via a video call to audience of over 600 top CEOs and executives in Mongolia; after his speech of about 45 min +15 min Q&A, there was standing ovation from the entire audience. It was fantastic. I’ve never seen such standing ovation from so many executives before, let alone for a presentation done over video call!”

Mergen Chuluun
Founder, Togtokh Trade; YPO Mongolia

“Verne your talk knocked me out!!! Again! You are without a doubt in the top 3 business speakers I have ever heard. Thanks you for making yourself available & your great wisdom. Feedback was incredible.”

John McGrath
CEO, McGrath Estate Agents, RELC Annual Conference

“Verne, I can’t thank you enough for the amazing keynote you gave at our conference to close our event! Everyone was engaged right until the end, and of course, your level of energy was the same coming off the stage as it was when you first stepped on the stage 90 minutes earlier! The reports back from our partners and my executive team alike was astounding as witnessed by the standing ovation you received.”

Michael George
CEO, Continuum, 2015 Navigate User Conference

“Verne was pure shock and awe – he inspired and opened peoples’ minds to what is achievable and provided a robust framework through Scaling Up on how to succeed. He rocked the house!”

Mark Maier
President/CEO, Aurum Group

“NAEA has hosted events for thousands of business-minded real estate professionals and Verne Harnish was a great decision for the keynote. Our attendance was at an all-time high, the quality of attendee was unmatched, and his keynote shared many practical tools and techniques in a humorous and engaging manner bringing our audience to their feet at the end.”

Jay Kinder
CEO & Co-founder, National Association of Expert Advisors

“We continue to hear how much the members (U.S. Swim School Association) loved your presentation and they were able to take what was learned and put it to use immediately. I personally thought you were one of our best presenters in the past several years.”

Sue Mackie
CEO, Aquatics Unlimited Swim School

“Verne really did make a difference! As a speaker, your unique presentation provided immense “take-home” value that the members will be able to apply immediately and directly to both their professional and personal lives!”

Kevin R. Wice
EO Vancouver Chapter President; EO Vancouver 2003 University Chair; President, Xynyth Manufacturing Corp.

“Verne’s presentation received high marks from our attendees… I think it was one of the best!”

Milan Yager
Executive Vice President, National Association of Professional Employer Organizations

“Thank you for being such an integral part of our Secret Service Summit again. Your content is brilliant, inspiring and necessary. I’ve learned a great deal from you (and your books) over the years and am grateful for everything you so graciously share with your audiences.”

Denise Thompson
Managing Partner, The DiJulius Group
Endorsements

“Verne is THE guru of fast growth companies. Those who listen GROW and SUCCEED . . . so listen . . . or read!”

Tom Peters
Author, In Search of Excellence

“This is THE field book for any growth business.”

Patrick Lencioni
Author, The Five Temptations of a CEO and The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive

“The undisputed expert in helping entrepreneurs, I had him address the firm I merged with AOL; he was the first speaker we invited when we launched what has become AOL University, and now he’s bringing his powerful ideas to you.”

Ted Leonsis
Vice Chair, AOL; owner, Washington Capitals
Top rated past keynote events include
Speaking info

Fees, accommodation, and everything the keynote includes.

Of 19 keynote and breakout speakers at Nerve 2015 in Nashville — an audience of over 850 entrepreneurs — Verne was the highest rated, at 9.4 out of 10.

Fees & accommodation
In-person keynote — USD 50,000
For 60 minutes to 3 hours — the same fee regardless of location, airfare included.
Travel allowance — USD 1,000
Covers hotel and ground transportation.
Virtual keynote — USD 20,000
Delivered from a professional studio in Boulder, CO — fiber internet, RED 6k camera, professional lighting, boom microphones, white or black background.
Program materials
Up to 400 copies of Scaling Up
Included with the keynote (event pays shipping); additional copies negotiable. Verne signs copies if there’s time.
Growth Tools handout
An electronic copy of the Growth Tools is provided as the session handout, printed locally.
Slides for attendees
A PDF of Verne’s slides is shared via a link during the presentation, for you to email attendees afterwards.
Pre + post keynote
Pre-event call
An optional prep call to discuss details — most of the time a few emails suffice.
Promotional webinar — included
If you prefer, Verne will do a pre-event webinar to help promote attendance, included in the fee.
Recording welcome
Videotaping the presentation is fine — and encouraged when used well.
Watch

The energy in minute 90 is the same as in minute one.

Start with the 90-second reel, then watch full segments from two very different rooms — 7,200+ in an Amsterdam arena, and a 2,500-strong virtual summit alongside Jim Collins, Pat Lencioni, and Ram Charan.

The sizzle reel — 90 seconds on what Verne brings to a stage. Download the sizzle reel →
Business Boost, Amsterdam — January 2020 · audience of 7,200+
Owning a Niche
Relationship Marketing
Constraints
CEO Rising Virtual Summit — June 2020 · 2,500 attendees, alongside Jim Collins, Pat Lencioni, and Ram Charan
Talk Time Is Your Key KPI
Rebuilding
The 7-70 Rule

Bestselling Author

More than 750k copies sold — the tools in these books have helped over 102,000 firms scale.

Book cover

Scaling Up (Revised Edition)

How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't (Rockefeller Habits 2.0)

Buy the book →
Book cover

Start to Scale

Secrets to Starting and Scaling Any Size Organization

Buy the book →
Book cover

Super Players

How the Best Transform their Career and Company with High-Impact Habits

Buy the book →
Book cover

Scaling Up Compensation

5 Design Principles for Turning Your Largest Expense into a Strategic Advantage

Buy the book →
Book cover

The Greatest Business Decisions of All Time

How Apple, Ford, IBM, Zappos, and others made radical choices that changed the course of business

Buy the book →
Short bio:

Verne Harnish is founder of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (20,000+ members worldwide) and founder and CEO of Scaling Up, whose tools have helped over 102,000 firms scale. He is the author of five books, including Scaling Up — translated into 26 languages, winner of eight international awards — and his latest, Start to Scale.

Photos & book covers
Click any tile to open the full-resolution file.
Contact

Get in touch.

For speaking inquiries, use the form below.

Ask Verne to speak at your event

Tell us about the event and we’ll take it from there.

Thanks — your request is on its way. We’ll get back to you shortly to talk dates and details.
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Let’s Start YourScaling Journey