Alexander Blass Profile Picture

Keynote SpeakerAlexander Blass

Father of Crowdfunding ™ , Renowned Innovator, Grand Prize Winner of the Top Innovator of the Year Award, CEO of Innovation Institute of America

Wharton and Oxford-educated with dual master’s degrees in business and engineering, Alexander Blass is known as the father of crowdfunding™. An internationally acclaimed American innovator who has travelled to 65 countries, Blass is the founder of the $20 billion a year person-to-person crowdfunding industry, inventing and launching the world’s first... Read More

Biography

Wharton and Oxford-educated with dual master’s degrees in business and engineering, Alexander Blass is known as the father of crowdfunding™. An internationally acclaimed American innovator who has travelled to 65 countries, Blass is the founder of the $20 billion a year person-to-person crowdfunding industry, inventing and launching the world’s first website of its kind.

This life-saving innovation spread rapidly across the globe and garnered worldwide media coverage, helping and inspiring tens of millions of people. The United States Patent and Trademark Office awarded Alexander Blass a patent for inventing this revolutionary technology. He is also the winner of numerous other awards and distinctions, including being the youngest grand prize recipient of the Daily Record’s Top Innovator of the Year Award, which credited him with “revolutionizing charitable giving” when he was only 32 years old.

Alexander Blass has appeared in numerous media outlets globally including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Associated Press, MSNBC, FOX, Businessweek, The Independent, Economic Times, and Times of India. Alexander Blass is the CEO and Innovator-in-Chief at the Innovation Institute of America. A leading expert in innovation and creativity as someone who has “been there and done that,” Blass is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker at conferences worldwide, as well as a masterclass workshop presenter.

His clients are highly diverse across industries, including many of the world’s leading companies such as Mastercard, IBM, Saudi Aramco, KPMG, Statoil, CIMA, and Solvay. His presentation style is a rare and coveted combination of content-rich (with proprietary frameworks and interesting case studies), high energy, and inspirational, leaving audiences highly engaged with practical and valuable strategies they can implement immediately. Previously, Blass was a venture capitalist, strategy consultant and software developer, beginning his career at KPMG Consulting. While a principal at the VC fund, a portfolio company went from a $500,000 investment to a $500 million cash acquisition by a Fortune 50 corporation.

Alexander Blass received an MBA from Oxford University in England and holds a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, where he concurrently studied at the Wharton School of Business. He was later invited back to Wharton where he was honored to serve as Entrepreneur-in-Residence.

“I sat through Alexander’s presentation and I must say it was truly awesome. He communicated the message of innovation very clearly. I also found it very impressive – and he did it extremely well — that he localized his presentation for India which was absolutely great, and he really connected with the audience. I really appreciate it. Thank you!” Director of Global Alliances, IBM
“We had Alexander Blass as our keynote speaker, who was terrific. He really personalized the event to what we needed and he motivated everybody in the audience, so we really really appreciate it. Thank you very much Alexander!” Director of Prepaid Solutions, Mastercard
“He did a great job of bringing in examples from all over the world. Highly energetic. He got engaged, got into the audience, not just a static speech with Powerpoint slides. Highly recommended!" Director of Marketing for the Americas, Travelport
“We are here at our annual conference, and we invited Alexander as our first external presenter ever. To bring innovation ideas and examples from other industries into our internal dialogue and how to apply them to the agricultural arena. I think the presentation was great. We were able to touch all the levels of employees from the commerce to development, from the manager to the field person.” Chief Executive Officer, STK Group
“Today we had a masterclass on innovation by Alexander Blass. It’s been a fantastic experience. We had 56 of our managers and assistant managers attending and we’ve really opened up a lot of minds and changed mindsets. It’s a great new approach, I think it will lead to innovation in all sorts of spheres in the business. I am really looking forward to taking this forward over the next 12 months. Thank you very much, it was very inspirational, look forward to seeing you again.” Chairman, Toyota Gibraltar Stockholdings
“We have a gathering on innovation in telecom, and we were very pleased to have Alexander as the keynote speaker. He gave a very enlightening speech on innovation. We were very impressed by the framework he has worked out to help innovate in companies… we also had a masterclass with Alexander that I can warmly recommend.” Managing Director, ETIS
“We invited Alexander Blass to give us a keynote presentation about the human side of innovation, and it was very interesting to the group because we're confronting new challenges in the automotive industry. This is going to serve very much to open the minds of our executives to have new ideas to know how to retain people. This was a very very good experience for our people, and we are very happy and very grateful for his visit.” Director of Human Resources, Grupo Bocar
“The skills that we have learned in this workshop are enabling us to identify those opportunities so that we could be creative and innovative in our respective area, and as we all know that if you take your field, which is also your passion, then no one can stop you from excellence.” General Manager, Pakistan International Airlines
“We were very glad today to have Mr. Alexander Blass who presented to us key elements on being innovative and related technology. His presentation was really heart-touching, interactive with the audience, and out of the norm of a typical presentation. We really highly recommend Mr. Blass and his presentations for other such events around the globe. Thank you very much.” Petroleum Engineer, Saudi Aramco
“We had a wonderful session day with Alexander Blass on innovation in financial services and how to apply these concepts in Pakistan… we came to learn examples and best practices that are being done in the U.S. and other countries… it was a very interactive session…and this will give us a broad framework to implement these strategies.” Director of Human Resources, Bank Alfalah
“Wow, it was undoubtedly one of the best sessions I have ever attended. The key takeaway for me was that if you breathe, if you eat for your living, you should innovate for your living. And innovation and energy go hand in hand, so I am requesting Alexander to give me some of his energy and innovation skills so that I can survive in this world. Thanks a lot, Alexander!” Software Engineer, HCL

Popular Talks by Alexander Blass

  • Innovation Explosion™: How to Imagine and Create Billion-Dollar Products and Services
    Alexander Blass believes that everyone has an innovator within. It is essential to be constantly innovating to stay ahead of the competition, by challenging the status quo and coming up with creative new products and services to market and sell. Learn how you and your organization can reinvent yourselves as...
  • Innovation & Creativity
  • Future & Technology
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Award Winners
  • Business & Management
  • Leadership
  • Motivation & Inspiration