I recently presented this talk at the 55th Annual Dinner of the Boothbay Region Chamber of Commerce in Southport, ME

1. GRABBING THE FUTURE
Jess Knox
Maine Accelerates Growth & Venture Hall
June 8, 2017

3. Scored in the
bottom 40% of
college entrance
exams
Scored lower
than that on the
law school
admission test
Fired From The
Company I
Founded
Failed the
Bar Exam
Twice
Rejected
from 7 law
schools
Required to
repeat my
final GS
semester

5. The Future Is
Entirely About
Choice
How Do We Guide The
Choice

6. 4 Rules for Grabbing the Future
(Lessons Learned from a
Life Full of Failures)

7. The Future has Always Showed up

9. Lesson 1:
Aggressively Engage
the New
(People & Ideas)

11. Gov. Joshua Chamberlin, 2nd
Inaugural Address
Jan 3, 1868
“We must do more to
find ways to keep and
attract young people
to Maine”
For Communities – why openness…

12. Talent is the Future of Communities
“The way a team plays as a whole determines its
success. You may have the greatest bunch of
individual stars in the world, but if they don't play
together, the club won't be worth a dime.” – Babe
Ruth
“Great things in business are never
done by one person. They're done by a
team of people.” –Steve Jobs
Agility Is The Name of The Game

13. CERTAINTY VS FERTILE GROUND

14. Lesson 2:
Celebrate
Uncomfortableness

19. LESSON 3:
DON’T IGNORE
TRADITION…AND
DON’T WRITE THEM ON
STONE TABLETS

22. Lesson 4:
Embrace the Pursuit of
High-Performance

23. Aspirations Have To Start Somewhere

24. “A family needs to work
as a team, supporting
each other's individual
aims and aspirations.”
-Buzz Aldrin

26. • Aggressively Engage the New
• Celebrate Uncomfortableness
• Don’t Ignore Tradition but, Don’t Make it Gospel
• Embrace the Pursuit of High-Performance

27. THE FUTURE IS
ALREADY HERE
ITS JUST UNEVENLY
DISTRIBUTED
William Gibson

28. Make the Future Your Own
Thank You