Patrick Sweeney
Adventurer, Tech Entrepreneur, Author, Cancer Survivor, World-Record Holder, & Fear Expert
SPEAKER FEE RANGE: $8,000–$25,000 [FEE NOTE]
TRAVELS FROM: Massachusetts
•Wall Street Journal Best-Selling Author, Fear is Fuel.”
• 4x Technology Entrepreneur
• 3x World-Cup & Olympic-Level Athlete
• World-Record Holder
• Cancer Survivor
• 4x Technology Entrepreneur
• 3x World-Cup & Olympic-Level Athlete
• World-Record Holder
• Cancer Survivor
Patrick Sweeney is a best-selling author, serial entrepreneur and world record holder.
Inc. Magazine referred to Patrick as “One of the most interesting men alive” for his ability to play in the worlds of business, adventure, athletics and neuroscience simultaneously.
As the son of first generation Irish immigrants, he was always trying to break away from a challenging childhood. Patrick became an Olympic-level rower who raced the World Cup for three years in the single scull (one man rowing), winning many national and international championships.
After the Olympics he attended a top business school and began building data centers for the world’s top companies. Patrick sensed a big problem that needed solving in 1999 and started ServerVault, the first fully automated cloud-hosting platform. After selling ServerVault Patrick looked for the next big technology opportunity during a summer school stint at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He found it with Radio Frequency Identification – RFID. This was the genesis of ODIN, his second tech company. Just as the company was getting off the ground and Sweeney’s family was growing, with a one year old daughter and second one on the way he was devastated by the news of a rare form of leukemia. He beat the deadly disease and completely reconstructed his life because of the second chance and what he learned from the ordeal.
His life changed so much he spent six years with the world’s top neuroscientist figuring out what mechanisms change a brain so dramatically and how ordinary people could access those changes to improve their lives. This led to the Wall Street Journal #5 bestseller “Fear is Fuel.” The BASE method is the simple, life-changing framework that can allow anyone to succeed in times of uncertainty.
Leadership, entrepreneurship and relationships have all changed in a post-pandemic world. Sweeney will show you how to navigate the uncertainty based on hard science and peer-reviewed data.
Inc. Magazine referred to Patrick as “One of the most interesting men alive” for his ability to play in the worlds of business, adventure, athletics and neuroscience simultaneously.
As the son of first generation Irish immigrants, he was always trying to break away from a challenging childhood. Patrick became an Olympic-level rower who raced the World Cup for three years in the single scull (one man rowing), winning many national and international championships.
After the Olympics he attended a top business school and began building data centers for the world’s top companies. Patrick sensed a big problem that needed solving in 1999 and started ServerVault, the first fully automated cloud-hosting platform. After selling ServerVault Patrick looked for the next big technology opportunity during a summer school stint at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He found it with Radio Frequency Identification – RFID. This was the genesis of ODIN, his second tech company. Just as the company was getting off the ground and Sweeney’s family was growing, with a one year old daughter and second one on the way he was devastated by the news of a rare form of leukemia. He beat the deadly disease and completely reconstructed his life because of the second chance and what he learned from the ordeal.
His life changed so much he spent six years with the world’s top neuroscientist figuring out what mechanisms change a brain so dramatically and how ordinary people could access those changes to improve their lives. This led to the Wall Street Journal #5 bestseller “Fear is Fuel.” The BASE method is the simple, life-changing framework that can allow anyone to succeed in times of uncertainty.
Leadership, entrepreneurship and relationships have all changed in a post-pandemic world. Sweeney will show you how to navigate the uncertainty based on hard science and peer-reviewed data.
FEar Can Reprogram your Brain for Success
Fear is the most powerful, yet least understood force in your life. You may not know it but realize all your dreams are on the other side of fear, you just need a roadmap to get you there. That’s what millionaire entrepreneur, world-record holder and cancer survivor Patrick Sweeney provides. His inspiring keynote speeches impart tremendous take-away value, designed specifically for your audience.
Organizations - Exponential sales growth, pioneering innovation, fulfilled employees and a learning environment are only sustainable long-term with a culture of courage. Any corporation can adopt Patrick ’s framework to build a culture of courage and navigate the fear mongering in an uncertain world.
Personal - Fear is the biggest barrier holding you back from being the best version of yourself. Patrick’s methods skyrocket audiences to new levels of success, they’re proven to help you achieve the life you know you deserve.
- Emerging Stronger & More Successful in the Post-Pandemic World
Life is not what it was just two years ago, it has changed forever in the way that our brain processes and shares information and on how others respond. Life has changed in how we hold meetings, go to (or not go to) work, and manage supply chains.
To succeed in the post-COVID-19 era, leaders need to do more than fine-tune their day-to-day operations and technology; you need to be ready and willing to rethink how you operate, and even why your company exists.
Today’s leaders need a framework that helps you to step back, take a breath, and consider a broader perspective while simultaneously helping those around you deal with continued uncertainty and even learn to enjoy the unknown. It’s the neuroscience of using fear as fuel.
The five necessary strategies in the post pandemic world are:
- Foster a courageous mindset
- Accelerate decision-making and data gathering
- Commit to sustainability as a core value
- Make purpose your North Star
- Embrace Web 3.0 - Ready for the New Normal? A Resiliency Framework
What's sure to have an even bigger impact than the virus itself is the fear, anxiety and stress caused by it. Uncertainty in health, in business, in financial markets are all attacking the mental well-being of leaders around the globe. The courageous leaders who can asses the situation and decide based on opportunity not fear, will be the ones succeeding wildly when pent-up demand releases and recovery ensues. Leaders need to empower their team with the neuroscience of fear and how to reprogram the mind for courage. Join Wall-Street Journal Best selling author of "Fear is Fuel" Patrick Sweeney, YPO member & resource as he shares concrete steps you can take to be a better leader for yourself, your family, and your team during theses times of high anxiety.
For audiences under 300 people we can facilitate an engaging Q&A function. - Finding Courage from Facts, Not Fear: How to Take Control of Your Mental Health & Wellbeing
Information saturation, economic unrest, fear, uncertainty and doubt - are all by-products of the global disruption caused by a "novel" pandemic. Novel means new and unknown - that's why your brain has trouble predicting the outcome, there is nothing in its database to reference. The good news is it does not have to cause anxiety or stress. Join Wall-Street Journal best-selling author, millionaire entrepreneur, world record holder and cancer survivor Patrick Sweeney as he shares the steps anyone can take during this unprecedented time of uncertainty.
Patrick will first share how the brain works - and why running a two-million year old version of software is merciless to our well-being. Then he'll explain how you can use hard neuroscience to reprogram your brain for success and happiness as he did in his life or death struggle from leukemia. Patrick will share engaging and entertaining stories that range from his time in John's Hopkins Hospital to taking the first Cloud computing company form the ashes after 9/11 and turning it into a dominant player that he sold in 2002 when other companies were imploding. You'll leave this talk feeling empowered and in control of your destiny, plus motivated to find the potential in the present - no matter what the future brings! - The Five Fear Based Mistakes Leaders Make in a Crisis
Amidst the uncertainty lies the possibility of turning your fears into purpose, passion and performance. Learn how to turn your individual and/or organizational fears into potential for the future. Patrick will also offer a glimpse into the neuroscience research outlined in his Wall Street Journal best-seller, “Fear is Fuel”, so that you too can turn fearful situations into positive outcomes. - Breaking the Rules in Healthcare
What if you knew which rules were holding you back and how to break them? The successful pioneers in healthcare, the ones who have really changed the world, have learned how to break the rules and set entirely new paradigms.
Think of how your life would change if you had no ceiling on what you can accomplish. Patrick gives the neuroscience principles that helped several of his clients breakthrough barriers and dominate their fields. Not only did they crush the competition, they brought novel technologies to the world of healthcare that made people’s lives better and healthier. - The Surprising Neuroscience behind Using Fear as Fuel
The most successful entrepreneurs, athletes and leaders have figured out through years of trial and error how to harness the power of fear and transform themselves or their organizations. Companies that outperform their peers have broken through the fear frontier to create a culture of courage. Patrick Sweeney saw his life change dramatically when he made friends with fear and sought the science behind the “why.” He has interviewed more than 30 of the world’s leading neuroscientists, psychologists and neurobiologists to figure out the science of fear and how it impacts peak performance, happiness and success. His upcoming book details over three years of work and includes the most cutting edge research. - Fear, Technology & Leadership for the 21st Century
Americans fear technology more than death, according to a Chapman University annual ranking of fears. Not just cyberterrorism, personal data tracking, or the government tracking them, workers fear robots, doctors fear artificial intelligence, and the President of the USA stated that airplanes have become too technically complex to fly – that you need a scientist from M.I.T. instead of a pilot. People everywhere are terrified of technology. Before you worry about the Terminator coming to your hometown, you first need to take the Terror out of Technology and learn what to trust, what not to trust, what is an opportunity and what is really a threat.
In this fascinating presentation about our fears of technology, best-selling author Patrick Sweeney, known as the Fear Guru, takes you through the process of evaluating then embracing technology, making the most of innovation and courageous leadership during times of rapid change. He shows you why people in the late 1800’s thought telephones might connect users to evil spirits, how technology like anti-lock brakes and vaccinations have saved more lives than have been lost to terrorism, why some AI systems go very wrong when they make mistakes and why some of the scariest technology today is what we should be most excited about.
Sweeney’s unique background as one of the world’s foremost authorities on fear and courage compliment his perspective as a four-time technology entrepreneur & CEO, an innovator with almost a dozen patents to his name and an angel investor in over 30 technology companies including Slack, Bright Farms and Y Combinator. - Creating a Culture of Courage
What holds most people back from their full potential isn’t lack of skill or lack of will, it’s fear.
The human brain is designed primarily for survival. That architecture interferes with our happiness, success and fulfillment in all walks of life. In fact, conferences present a great opportunity to learn new and exciting strategies, ones that could dramatically change businesses and lives, yet only a fraction of attendees implement those ideas. What is holding them back? Many leaders fear failure or are afraid of changing the status quo and rocking the boat. Stagnant leaders live in a fearful culture where employees do things because “that’s the way it’s always been done” or because they fear losing their jobs. In this riveting presentation, Patrick will explain why we get stuck in a prison of less-than-peak performance. Then he will give you tangible neuroscience techniques to take home and increase your success, power, and happiness.
Imagine finishing second in the US Olympic trials in rowing, when you could have been a gold medalist, or raising almost $30 million and creating the first cloud computing company only to have your venture capitalist make all the money when it was sold, and worst of all needing six cocktails just to get on a plane for a business trip or not going at all. Fear locked Patrick Sweeney in a prison of constant suffering until he met with the ultimate terror – the diagnosis of a rare form of leukemia and a slim chance of survival. After beating the disease thanks to talented doctors, cutting edge mental techniques learned at the Olympic training center, and the grace of God, his whole life changed. He took flying lessons, started a new company sold it for millions, and then started another. He’s now living the life of his dreams setting world records, adventuring across the globe, mentoring top CEOs, and inspiring audiences worldwide.
Patrick’s mission is to teach millions of people the superpower of courage. For his upcoming book Fear as Fuel he interviewed more than 30 neuroscientists and psychologists for the newest investigations on how the brain functions and the secrets of overcoming our fear-based survival instincts. Patrick translates a vast continuum of scientific research into practical tactics on how to live to your fullest potential, create super-successful businesses, fulfilling relationships and raise courageous happy children. Using fear as fuel you’ll begin to confidently make the best decisions of your life and unleash a new level of power. His talk gives you a sneak peak of what is sure to be a best seller. That’s why he’s called the Fear Guru!
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