Getting to Plan B

John W. MullinsJohn Mullins is Associate Professor of Management Practice at London Business School, where he heads the entrepreneurship group. He earned his MBA at the Stanford GraduateSchool of Business and, considerably later in life, his PhD in marketing from the Universityof Minnesota. An award-winning teacher, John brings to his teaching and research 20years of executive experience in high-growth firms, including two ventures he founded, oneof which he took public.Since becoming a business school professor in 1992, John has published more than 30articles in a variety of outlets, including Harvard Business Review, the Journal of ProductInnovation Management, and the Journal of Business Venturing. His research has wonnational and international awards from the Marketing Science Institute, the AmericanMarketing Association, and the Richard D. Irwin Foundation.He is also co-author of Marketing Management: A Strategic Decision-Making Approach,5th edition. His recent trade book, The New Business Road Test: What Entrepreneurs andExecutives Should Do Before Writing a Business Plan, is the definitive work on the assessmentand shaping of market opportunities.

Randy Komisar is a venture capitalist with decades of experience with startups. He is the author of the best-selling book The Monk and the Riddle, about the heart and soul of entrepreneurship, as well as numerous articles on leadership and startups. He is also the co-author of Getting to Plan B, on managing innovation, and I F**king Love that Company, on building consumer brands. He taught entrepreneurship at Stanford University and is a frequent lecturer at universities, as well as a regular keynote speaker on entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership. He joined Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in 2005 to focus on early stage ventures. Prior to that he created the role of “Virtual CEO” to partner with entrepreneurs to help them and their businesses achieve their potential, serving as Virtual CEO for such startups as WebTV and GlobalGiving. He was a co-founder of Claris Corp., and served as CEO for LucasArts Entertainment and Crystal Dynamics. Randy was a founding director of TiVo and Nest.  He served as CFO of GO Corp. and as senior counsel for Apple, following a private practice in technology law. He has also served on dozens of private and public company boards and advises such organizations as Road Trip Nation and the Orrick Women’s Leadership Board.