Shegun Otulana

Serial Entrepreneur; Founder & CEO of Harmony Venture Labs & CEO of Copysmith AI

Travels From Travels From:
Birmingham, AL, USA
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Shegun Otulana Biography

Shegun Otulana is a seasoned entrepreneur, advisor, mentor and investor. Drawing from his experience as a bootstrapped startup founder who found incredible success, his mission is to empower the next generation of builders by sharing his lessons learned to guide their entrepreneurial journeys. In addition to mentoring founders in his community – many of whom have gone on to launch successful companies – he also enjoys sharing his insight with startup leaders, business associations, academic institutions and other growth-minded groups.

In 2013, Otulana founded TheraNest and a few years later, its parent company, Therapy Brands, a software platform for mental, behavioral, substance and physical rehab providers and organizations. In 2021, he exited the business for $1.25 billion, the largest software exit on record in the state of Alabama.

Prior to establishing Therapy Brands, Otulana founded Zertis Technologies, a computer software consultancy company. Today, he continues his "idea lab" approach as founder and CEO of Harmony Venture Labs (HVL), an idea and growth studio that owns and operates a family of technology companies. He also serves as the CEO of Copysmith AI, a startup that uses artificial intelligence (AI) for generative content creation. Copysmith’s products include Describely, Rytr.me, and Frase.io.

He has received many awards for his work, including EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year and the prestigious Henry Crown Fellowship at the Aspen Institute. He serves on the boards of Venture for America, Landing, Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, among others. He also is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and is an active Endeavor mentor. Otulana resides in Birmingham with his wife Mary and their four children.

Shegun Otulana Speaking Topics

  • Building a Billion Dollar Business: What it Takes

    How do you go from zero to a billion dollar exit in under a decade?

    Shegun Otulana’s entrepreneurial story went from credit card debt, loans, and borrowing from 401ks to realizing one of the largest exits in the Southeast U.S. In 2021, after just eight years of building TheraNest and its parent company, Therapy Brands, Shegun’s determination and resourcefulness resulted in an exit of north of 1.25 billion dollars.

    Entrepreneurs, CEOs, and students alike will be inspired by how Shegun leveraged the power of hard work, continuous learning, and resilience. After attending a session with Shegun, attendees will walk away with practical principles, strategies, and the growth mindset needed to accelerate their personal and professional growth.

  • Thinking Like an Entrepreneur: Compressing Time and Accelerating Growth

    Are you frustrated with the pace of decision making at your organization? Are you ready to enter a stage of hypergrowth, but aren’t sure how to start?

    The entrepreneurial mindset isn’t just for startups – it continues on through every stage of a company’s evolution. In this energizing workshop, Shegun shares what business leaders need to focus on to optimize for high growth.

    Drawing from decades of experience building startups and advising pre-launch companies to large-scale corporations, Shegun provides the knowledge and knowhow needed to build a growth engine that fuels your business for years to come.

  • A Winning Mindset for Minority Founders

    After immigrating to the US as a teenager from Nigeria, Shegun Otulana experienced the dichotomy of life as a Black, non-U.S. born founder firsthand. Shegun’s formative years were spent in a country where everyone looked and spoke like him, yet his entrepreneurial pursuits took place in a country where his name, accent and ethnicity put him in the minority.

    Shegun’s uncommon founder experience has given him incredible insight on how to leverage your unique background and skills to build a successful business. He uses his personal journey to encourage other founders of diverse backgrounds to be bold in writing their own success stories. This uplifting talk offers a fresh perspective for minority founders and those who support them.

  • Secrets to Building a Successful Startup Outside of Silicon Valley

    Popular wisdom says you need to build in a major hub to find startup success, but Shegun Otulana can tell you that’s not true. Shegun successfully built and exited a billion-dollar business, and he did it in Birmingham, Alabama.

    Through his founder journey, Shegun discovered that the core foundations of startup success are location agnostic. In this insightful talk, Shegun will guide you through his core startup foundations and how he leverages them with his team and startup coaching clients to achieve success.

  • Opportunities and Trends in AI

    Ready or not, artificial intelligence (AI) is here, and business will never be the same. Wondering what AI means for you?

    As the CEO of Copysmith AI, a generative AI company serving millions of users across three core AI products, Shegun Otulana has the insights you need to prepare for the new age of AI. Shegun’s balanced view of AI and its implications will calm anxieties and encourage you to leverage the latest developments in AI to enhance your productivity, efficiency, and output.

    This dynamic presentation can be tailored to fit any industry or company. You’ll always be ahead of the curve as Shegun is an expert on the latest developments in AI and ensures his attendees are apprised of the latest AI trends and news.

Shegun Otulana Videos

  • Shegun Otulana: Sloss Tech 2023
    Highlights from Shegun's Panel at Sloss Tech 2023: The Breakdown: Moving Mountains and Breaking Barriers.

Speaker Lists Featuring Shegun Otulana

FAQs on booking Shegun Otulana

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  • What topics does Shegun Otulana speak about?

  • Where does Shegun Otulana travel from?

    Shegun Otulana generally travels from Birmingham, AL, USA, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent.
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Shegun Otulana is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as Building a Billion Dollar Business: What it Takes, Thinking Like an Entrepreneur: Compressing Time and Accelerating Growth, A Winning Mindset for Minority Founders, Secrets to Building a Successful Startup Outside of Silicon Valley and Opportunities and Trends in AI. The estimated speaking fee range to book Shegun Otulana for your event is $50,000 - $100,000. Shegun Otulana generally travels from Birmingham, AL, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Zack Kass, Allie K. Miller, Adam Cheyer, Dr. Rumman Chowdhury and Joanna Peña-Bickley. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Shegun Otulana for an upcoming live or virtual event.

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