Available to book
David Robertson
David Robertson helps organizations sustain profitable growth through practical innovation strategies. The MIT Sloan professor and author of The Power of Little Ideas works with global leaders on innovation frameworks, product portfolio strategy, and creative growth models, backed by research with Lego, GoPro, and Victoria's Secret.
David Robertson is an MIT Sloan professor who has redefined how companies think about innovation, offering a practical middle path between incremental improvement and risky disruption. Robertson is the author of The Power of Little Ideas and Brick by Brick, his widely cited study of Lego's turnaround from near-bankruptcy to global dominance. He has spent over two decades researching how large organizations sustain creative growth without betting the company on moonshots. David's research gives leaders a framework they can actually implement. Rather than chasing the next breakthrough or settling for minor upgrades, he shows how companies can build families of complementary innovations around a core product. His work with Lego revealed that the company's revival came not from a single genius idea but from dozens of coordinated smaller ones, including video games, movies, and theme parks, all reinforcing the central brick. Audiences leave David's sessions with a clear vocabulary for distinguishing between types of innovation, a diagnostic tool for identifying which approach fits their organization, and real case studies showing how companies like Lego, GoPro, and Victoria's Secret applied these principles at scale. Book David Robertson to give your audience an innovation strategy grounded in evidence, not hype.
Robertson's MIT research on Lego's turnaround gives leadership teams a proven framework for scaling innovation without high-risk bets. His work translates particularly well for organizations looking to build coordinated product families rather than chasing single breakthroughs, offering diagnostic tools that map directly to portfolio planning and growth strategy.
Featured Projects
often considered together
Mark Johnson
Innovation
Disruption
Change Management
frequently asked questions
Something we've not covered here?
David Robertson structures his sessions around case study analysis, drawing primarily on his long-term research into Lego's turnaround to illustrate how coordinated families of smaller innovations — spanning video games, films, and theme parks — reinforced a single core product. He equips audiences with a diagnostic framework for categorising innovation types and identifying which approach fits their organisation, grounded in documented examples from companies including GoPro and Victoria's Secret.
David Robertson speaks on innovation strategy, complementary innovation frameworks, and organisational growth without disruption. He is a professor at MIT Sloan and the author of Brick by Brick, the landmark study of Lego's recovery from near-bankruptcy to global dominance.
No. PepTalk adds no booking fee, so you pay the speaker's fee and nothing beyond it. The service, from shortlist through to contracts and event-day logistics, is included. For repeat or multi-event bookings, PepTalk can agree preferential rates with your procurement team.
Share your event date, audience, format, objectives and budget, and PepTalk sends a hand-picked shortlist within 24 hours. Each suggestion comes with a profile, a fee and a recommendation on the strongest fit. Once you choose, PepTalk handles contracts, travel and logistics through to event day.
The typical fee range is the speaker's standard in-person fee in their home market, shown in their local currency. It moves with format, location, date and session length: virtual sessions and shorter slots usually cost less, while international travel and peak dates cost more. Send your brief to PepTalk and the team will confirm the exact fee in your currency.
Not all of them, and it makes no difference to your booking. PepTalk's network of 15,000+ speakers covers talent the team works with directly alongside speakers represented by agents and agencies worldwide. PepTalk approaches the speaker, negotiates the fee and handles contracting either way.
Three to six months ahead is comfortable for most events, and 12 months is better for large conferences, peak-season dates or one specific in-demand speaker. Shorter timelines are workable, and PepTalk regularly fills last-minute and replacement bookings within days. Availability is the constraint, so get in touch as soon as you have a date.
