Small Business Playbook: Actionable Advice to Grow in the New Economy
While the US economy’s strong recovery is good news for small businesses, it also presents a new set of challenges. From supply chain delays and inflation concerns, to labor shortages and an evolving customer base, the CNBC Small Business Playbook virtual summit offers expert guidance and insight to help small business owners conquer these obstacles, and more, and thrive in this next phase of the economic recovery.
WHO SHOULD JOIN: This program is geared toward small business owners and leaders.
Kevin O’Leary was born in Montreal, Canada on July 9th, 1954. As the son of a United Nations ILO official, he had the opportunity to live and be educated in Cambodia, Cyprus, Tunisia, Ethiopia, France and Switzerland.
Kevin attended the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada where in 1977 he received an Honors bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and Psychology. He attended the University of Western Ontario where he received his MBA in 1980.
After working briefly as an assistant product manager at Nabisco Brands, he left to pursue a career in television production and became a founding partner in Special Event Television, an independent production company that produced original sports programming such as “The Original Six”, “Don Cherry’s Grapevine” and “Bobby Orr and the Hockey Legends”.
Kevin co-founded SoftKey Software Products in Toronto, Canada in 1986. SoftKey was the first software company to apply the principles of consumer goods marketing to the software industry. SoftKey grew quickly as the price of personal computers declined and millions of North American families began to buy software for family education and entertainment.
In January of 1994, SoftKey became a catalyst of consolidation in the software industry, raising over $ 1 billion in a series of debt and equity financings and completing the first trans-border three-way pooling, merging with Spinnaker Software and WordStar International. As a result of this merger the company moved its headquarters to Boston, Massachusetts. In late 1995, SoftKey acquired Compton’s New Media and The Learning Company. In early 1996, SoftKey completed the acquisition of the Minnesota Educational Computer Company. In late 1997 and early 1998, the company acquired three more of its competitors, Creative Wonders, Mindscape and Broderbund making SoftKey the world leader in the development of educational, reference and home productivity software and the world’s second largest consumer software company with annual sales over $800 million, two thousand employees and subsidiaries in 15 countries. In 1996 SoftKey changed its name to The Learning Company. In early May 1999, The Mattel Toy Company acquired The Learning Company for $4.2 billion.
In 2003 he became co-investor and a director in Storage Now, a leading developer of climate-controlled storage facilities. Through a series of development projects and acquisitions, Storage Now became one of Canada’s largest owner/operator of storage services with facilities located in eleven cities serving such companies as Merck and Pfizer when it was acquired by the In Storage REIT in March 2007 for $110 million.
In July of 2007 Kevin became a founding investor and Director of Stream Global Services Inc., focused on the growing outsourcing business services market.
Kevin O’Leary is the Chairman of O’Leary Funds the Manager of the publically traded family of O’Leary Global Equity and Income Funds. He also serves on the board of The Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. He is a member of Boston’s 107 year old Hamilton Trust. Kevin O’Leary is a contributing columnist to CTV, BNN and the Bell Media Radio Network. He is a contributor to CNBC, ABC News and Good Morning America and an entrepreneur/investor co-host for the Discovery Channels Project Earth series that explores innovative ways man could reverse global warming implementing large scale geo-engineering infrastructure projects. He is also an investor/host of ABC Television’s Emmy Award winning venture capital reality program “Shark Tank” produced my Mark Burnet/Sony/ABC.
Kevin O’Leary is an active photographer, guitarist and author of three number #1 best selling books “Cold Hard Truth”, “Men, Women and Money” and “Family Kids and Money”.
Isabella Casillas Guzman serves as the 27th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and was sworn in on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. Administrator Guzman represents the more than 30 million U.S. small businesses and is committed to helping small business owners and entrepreneurs start, grow and be resilient.
A lifelong proponent of small businesses, Guzman grew up as the daughter of a small business owner and learned at a young age how important small businesses are to the communities they serve, the people they employ, and the economies they help power.
Administrator Guzman previously served as Director of the California Office of the Small Business Advocate, a position she held after being appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom in April 2019. In that role, she served as the voice of small businesses and innovative startups in the 5th largest economy in the world. She administered and advocated for programs and initiatives to help small businesses access capital, markets, and networks for stronger outcomes. She and her team helped connect entrepreneurs in every community with the resources needed. As the economic recovery support function coordinator for the state, she focused on resilience and most recently worked to help small businesses access relief during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In California, Administrator Guzman oversaw a network of small business centers focused on expanding assistance to underserved business groups. She launched new public private partnerships and collaborated to deliver cutting edge resources to small businesses, including through initiatives like Get Digital CA to increase technology and e-commerce adoption and Source Diverse Source Local to strengthen supply chain readiness. She advocated fiercely for financial relief for small businesses, leading to the expansion of state supported lending and the largest COVID-19 grant relief program in the nation at over $2.5 billion. Guzman's office launched the Entrepreneurship Task Force to serve as a bridge to small businesses and create content and programs to help strengthen the competitiveness of startup and small firms.
Administrator Guzman has previously served in leadership at the SBA as the agency’s Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor during the Obama-Biden Administration, where she oversaw policy and new program implementation. She was a small business entrepreneur herself, and an advisor to fellow founders including in accelerating technology commercialization and in helping small business contractors leverage the federal marketplace. Administrator Guzman earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.
Nina Vaca is Founder and CEO of Pinnacle Group, a global workforce solutions provider focused on IT/Professional solutions for the Fortune 500. Pinnacle is among the largest and most successful firms in the industry and has twice been named the fastest growing woman-owned company of any kind in the US. Nina is a member of the Staffing Industry Analysts Hall of Fame, has been honored as part of the Global Power 150 – Women in Staffing for each of the past six years, and was recently named as one of 50 industry leaders for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. In addition to her leadership of Pinnacle, Nina serves as a Director on three corporate boards of publicly traded companies. Nina is also a civic leader and philanthropist, working relentlessly to expand educational and business opportunities for minorities and women in STEM. In 2014, Nina was appointed by the White House as a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship. She is also a German Marshall Fellow, a British American Project Fellow, a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, and in 2019 became a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Nina is a recipient of the coveted Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for Technology & Communications and the Goldman Sachs Most Intriguing Entrepreneuraward.
Holly Wade is the executive director of the NFIB Research Center, where she conducts original research and studies public policy effects on small businesses. She produces NFIB’s monthly Small Business Economic Trends survey and surveys on topics related to small business operations. Holly is also a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE). She has undergraduate degrees in Political Science and Sociology from the University of Washington and a Masters of Public Policy from the University of Denver.
2pm ET
The good news: businesses have finally reopened. The bad news: owners are now battling new issues like inflation and supply chain slowdowns. We’ll examine trends, optimism, and the outlook for the second half of 2021 and beyond.
Holly Wade, National Federation of Independent Business Executive Director of Research
Interviewed by: Kate Rogers, CNBC Reporter
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Strong relationships are the foundation from which successful businesses are built upon. But what happens when they go awry during a pandemic? We’ll discuss how to handle disputes with business partners, suppliers, and more, and answer your questions on all things small business.
Kevin O’Leary, CNBC’s “Money Court” Host
Interviewed by: Tyler Mathisen, CNBC Power Lunch Co-Anchor & Vice President, Events Strategy
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As the pandemic eases, a record number of small businesses still can’t find enough workers, making the recovery challenging. We’ll get to the root of the problem and offer tips on how to attract top talent to your organization.
Gyanda Sachdeva, LinkedIn VP of Product
Nina Vaca, Pinnacle Group Chairman & CEO
Interviewed by: Sharon Epperson, CNBC Senior Personal Finance Correspondent
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Strategies to protect your business from a cyber attack.
Larry Whiteside Jr., CyberClan CTO & Chief Trust Officer
Interviewer: Frank Holland, CNBC Reporter
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Tips to enhance your digital marketing strategy and transform your business.
Eric Siu, Leveling Up Chairman
Interviewer: Rahel Solomon, CNBC General Assignment Reporter
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SPONSORED AND PROGRAMMED BY T-MOBILE FOR BUSINESS
Digital transformation is a necessity for businesses to thrive. This past year, successful small and mid-size businesses proved that a business plan focused on embracing digital technology, connectivity and collaboration, gave them the resiliency they needed to weather the storm. Find out if your business has the tools to succeed, and what you can do today to get on the right track if you don’t.
David Wood, T-Mobile for Business Senior Manager of Solutions Engineering
Steven Crowley, T-Mobile for Business Director of Solutions Engineering
Moderator: Shibani Joshi, Business Journalist
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The widely used Paycheck Protection Program may have expired, but there are still plenty of readily available initiatives to provide assistance to small business owners. We’ll break down the resources, ranging from financial assistance to industry-specific training, and discuss what’s in the pipeline.
Isabel Guzman, Small Business Administration Administrator
Interviewed by: Kate Rogers, CNBC Reporter
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Engage with fellow business owners and share ideas, obstacles, and insight. Plus, we’ll answer your questions, and offer up pro-active steps you should take to navigate the challenges of today, and successfully plan for tomorrow.
Featured Guests:
Brian Moran, Small Business Edge, Founder & CEO
Nina Vaca, Pinnacle Group Chairman & CEO
Featured Reporter: Sharon Epperson, CNBC Senior Personal Finance Correspondent
T-Mobile for Business brings the Un-carrier experience to customers unwilling to settle. With a network that now covers 99% of Americans, the nation’s most advanced 4G LTE, and in hot pursuit of 5G, T-Mobile continues solving industry pain points and has businesses of all sizes ready for the future of wireless.