Steven Hoffman or Captain Hoff as he’s called in Silicon Valley, is the CEO of Founders Space, one of the world’s leading incubators and accelerators. He’s also an angel investor, limited partner at August Capital, serial entrepreneur, and author of “Make Elephants Fly”, the award-winning book on radical innovation.
Always innovating on his life, Captain Hoff has tried more professions than cats have lives, including serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, angel investor, studio head, computer engineer, filmmaker, Hollywood TV exec, published author, coder, game designer, manga rewriter, animator and voice actor.
Hoffman was the Founder and Chairman of the Producers Guild Silicon Valley Chapter, Board of Governors of the New Media Council, and founding member of the Academy of Television’s Interactive Media Group.
While in Hollywood, Hoffman worked as a TV development executive at Fries Entertainment, known for producing over a hundred TV shows (acquired by MGM). He went on to pioneer interactive television with his venture-funded startup Spiderdance, which produced interactive TV shows with NBC, MTV, Turner, Warner Brothers, History Channel, Game Show Network and others.
In Silicon Valley, Hoffman founded two more venture-backed startups, in the areas of games and entertainment, and worked as Mobile Studio Head for Infospace, with such hit mobile games as Tetris, Wheel of Fortune, Tomb Raider, Thief, Hitman, Skee-Ball and X-Files.
Steve Hoffman went on to launch Founders Space, with the mission to educate and accelerate entrepreneurs. Founders Space has become one of the top startup accelerators in the world. Hoffman has trained hundreds of startup founders and corporate executives in the art of innovation and routinely works with the world’s largest global corporations and venture funds.
Hoffman has a BS from the University of California in Computer Engineering and an MFA from the University of Southern California in Cinema Television. He currently resides in San Francisco but spends most of his time in the air, visiting startups, investors and innovators all over the world.
Steve’s keynotes are:
- Innovation Explosion: Make Elephants Fly
- Innovation Leadership: Self-Managed Teams
- The Secrets of Silicon Valley Investors
- Startup Minds: Unicorn Thinking
- Perfecting Your Pitch: The Art of Selling
- Robotics, IoT, Blockchain & The Future of Industry
- AI Ecosystems & Platforms
- Silicon Valley and the Future of Hollywood
- Technology of Tomorrow: CRISPR, NanoTech, Life on Mars, MindTech & Smart Cities
- 5G: The Hope, The Hype & The Reality
Contact us if you would like to engage Steven Hoffman to speak at your next event.
Steven Hoffman, CEO of Founders Space is publishing a new book called “Surviving a Startup: Practical Strategies for Starting a Business, Overcoming Obstacles, and Coming Out on Top”, available on paperback in April 2021.
The fact is, over 90 percent of all new startups fail. Every entrepreneur must face this harsh reality and learn to master it if they hope to survive and wind up on top.
In Surviving a Startup, Steve brings readers on a wild ride, sharing with them the tumultuous journey of launching a venture-funded startup and revealing what it takes to make it.
The book will:
Prepares entrepreneurs to make the best possible decisions and deal with crisis situations.
Divulges secrets on how to manage difficult employees, demonstrate leadership, and overcome disasters.
Shows how to recruit the best talent, even with no money, manage highly efficient teams, and motivate employees to go above and beyond their assigned responsibilities.