John Penney

Background

About John Penney

I am a Chief Growth Officer with 20+ years of driving companies to scale rapidly and enter new adjacent markets; sector expertise in consumer technology, mobility, AI, and media. Diverse skills in transforming business models, crafting strategic partnerships, and pioneering product and service strategies underpinned by financial rigor. Lead teams up to 75 and budgets up to $100M. Board member, keynote speaker, moderator, and technology evangelist. Stakeholders & Clients: The Volvo Group, Pebble, CoMotion, Acylmate, Seconds, Bosch NA, The Consumer Technology Association/CES, Infineon Technologies NA, Translink Capital, KPMG, The Nature Group, STARZ - A Lionsgate Company, Twentieth Century Fox Studios, HBO, IMG Global Media, AT & T, Viacom, Sanford C. Bernstein, JP Morgan ChaseSome of my impact to date:• Diversifying Pebble’s market from luxury electric recreational vehicles to disaster relief and field medical markets.• Advanced global awareness of The Volvo Group’s sustainability and technology leadership through brokering opportunity for CEO to deliver the first Nordic keynote to 1,500 audience members at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (CES)• Enabling California companies in eight verticals to deliver on sustainability, growth, and partnership goals as advisor to the CEO of trade group SustainSoCal.• Shifted mindsets from transactional to customer-focused to meet Bosch’s goal of 9% global recurring revenues.• Advanced five global telecoms companies in selling new digital content product by architecting novel $1.5B opportunity in emerging markets for Twentieth Century Fox Studios, creating new business model and product strategy, and gaining buy-in from all stakeholders to shift to innovative partnering approach.• Launched the first streaming service in the Middle East, Starz Play Arabia, and raised $50M in private equity capital. Selected as Chairman by lead investor, GE.Board member, public speaker, and technology evangelist:• Lecturer, Climate Change Essentials for Business Leaders, Berkeley Haas School of Business• Board Member and Co-chair of new accelerator and startups working group at Sustain SoCal, a trade association fostering cooperation in sustainability and cleantech.• Ten-time Panel Moderator and Speaker, on Innovation, Sustainability, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), 2020-2025Personal:• Dual EU citizen