Andy Stefanovich

Stefanovich graduated from Miami University in Ohio.[1] In 1990, he founded Opus Event Marketing after having worked in the sales department of Ritz-Carlton.[8] The company originally focused on event planning for corporations, but eventually shifted into a creative marketing firm focusing on product development, branding, and positioning; working with organizations and businesses such as Colgate-Palmolive, American Express, Calvin Klein, Disney, Oscar Mayer and the U.S. Olympic Committee.[1][9][10] In 1999, the company was renamed Play, and Stefanovich remained as founder.[11][12]

Play was acquired in 2009 by Prophet, where Stefanovich was named senior partner.[13] As part of the acquisition, Play's Richmond location became part of the Prophet network of offices.[14] Stefanovich regularly speaks at corporations such as Coca-Cola, Disney, General Electric, and Procter & Gamble.[15]

In 2011, Stefanovich co-founded a venture capital firm called New Richmond Ventures (NRV) with three other prominent Richmond businessmen: Bob Mooney, Jim Ukrop, and Theodore Chandler Jr.[4][7] NRV has a focus on local and "social impact" and has made early-stage investments in a number of companies including MedCPU, PlanG, and Plugless Power.[16][17] In addition to NRV, Stefanovich co-founded a second local incubator in 2012 called Men in Shirts that invests in 3 or 4 companies each year in the $50–$150,000 range. Their investments include Richmond-based men's shirtmakers, Ledbury, and a brewery named Ardent Craft Ales. In addition to capital, Stefanovich provides "marketing and strategy advice."[18] In 2013, Stefanovich curated Richmond's first TEDx event—called TEDxRVA—around the theme "CREATE".[19]

Stefanovich is a frequent guest on CNBC, where he talks about innovation and thought leadership, and Fast Company.[20][21][22][23] Stefanovich is also a visiting professor and guest lecturer at universities including Yale University, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Duke University, and Dartmouth College.[1] He has delivered several TEDx speeches, including for NASA, London Business School, and TEDxYouth.[24][25][26]

In 2011, Jossey-Bass, an imprint of Wiley Publishing published Stefanovich's first book Look at More: A Proven Approach to Innovation, Growth, and Change.[27][28] Look at More was an Inc. bestseller and named one of Ad Age's "Ten Marketing Books You Should Have Read" in 2011. [29][30][31]

• Andy Stefanovich on Twitter