
Jeff Hoffman is a serial entrepreneur and internationally recognized innovator who has been a founder and CEO in a number of startups and high growth companies, including Priceline.com, uBid.com, and ColorJar. Jeff writes a regular column on innovation and entrepreneurship for Inc. Magazine, and works with the White House, the US State Department, and small business and entrepreneurial organizations all over the world to support business and economic growth initiatives.
Professional Speaker & Successful Entrepreneur
Jeff has been a featured speaker at conferences and events on every continent this year, on the topics of innovation, entrepreneurship, and business leadership, and is currently writing a book on how to scale a business, while mentoring entrepreneurs and small business owners globally. He also teaches innovation to major corporations (recent workshops at Nestle, HP, NASA, Aetna, and more). Jeff is a business expert often seen on Fox News, CNN, Bloomberg News, CNBC, ABC, NPR, and in publications including Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, the NY Times, Fast Company, and more.
Jeff serves on the international advisory boards of Global Entrepreneurship Week (the Kauffman Foundation), the APEC Startup Initiative (21 member nations), JumpStart, and the US State Department’s Global Innovation through Science and Technology program (development programs in 49 emerging nations).
Jeff recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the national CEO council for his contributions to the field of entrepreneurship, as well as receiving the 2012 Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Rising Tide Capital.
Outside of the world of technology, Jeff has produced movies (including the successful horror film Cabin Fever), and has produced musical events including concerts, tours, and charity events with such artists as Elton John, Britney Spears, NSYNC, Boyz II Men, and others.
Jeff is currently a founder and partner in ColorJar, LLC, the Idea Accelerator company that helps entrepreneurs and small business owners launch and grow new business ventures. Prior to that, Jeff served as the CEO of Enable Holdings, Inc., one of the world’s leading excess inventory solutions companies. Enable Holdings, a publicly traded company, operates online sites uBid.com and RedTag.com, and specializes in the liquidation of excess inventory from major brand name manufacturers and retailers. The company has sold over $2 billion worth of computers, consumer electronics, jewelry, apparel, collectibles, and other products since its launch.
Jeff’s first startup was a software company in the travel industry named CTI, a company that quickly became the industry leader in technology for the travel and tourism industry, and was later acquired by American Express. For his achievements, Jeff was twice named one of the 25 Most Influential Executives in travel and tourism worldwide. Hoffman was also a founder and CEO of early e-commerce pioneer Virtual Shopping, Inc., which developed patented, proprietary software and hardware for online retailing on the Internet, and was later acquired by Europe’s Wallenberg Group.
Hoffman is perhaps best known as a founder and CEO in the Priceline.com family of companies, where Jeff led the development and launch of Priceline’s consumer company (Priceline YardSale). Hoffman also served as an executive in Walker Digital, the parent company of Priceline and one of the country’s most innovative creators of intellectual property and new business models.
An avid sports fan, Jeff has served on the board of the Evander Holyfield Foundation as well as being named Chairman of the Major League Baseball All Star Game Committee.
Jeff dedicates a significant portion of his time to mentoring other entrepreneurs. In this capacity, Jeff has served as a mentor in Stanford University’s Venture Lab, an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Georgia Tech and Rollins College, and has judged business plan competitions at MIT, the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, Pepperdine University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago, as well as advising the entrepreneurship programs at Kent State University. Jeff also served as a coach and mentor in the Kaufman Institute’s FastTrac Entrepreneurs Boot Camp.
On the civic front, Jeff served as Chairman of Adapted Sports, a non-profit agency serving to bring sports and sports leagues to disabled children all across the country, served as a regional board member for the Make A Wish Foundation, hosted the annual Transplant Foundation fundraiser with Robert Redford, and was previously named an Honorary Commander of the United States Air Force.
Speaking Topics
•Innovation and How to Inspire It
•Entrepreneur’s Boot Camp – Ten Keys to Entrepreneuring Success
•Managing Change in a Fast-Paced World
•The Art and Science of Branding
•New Rules of Business Leadership
•Digital Distribution and How to Use It
•Energy and Attitude – Motivation to Achieve Your Dreams
•The Digital Entertainment Revolution
•Commitment to Excellence – No One Ever Asks Who Came in Second
•eDreams and e-Realities – Tales of Success in the Internet Business
•Ready, Set, Go! – Reinventing Yourself and Relaunching Your Career