SXSW V2V will feature daily Keynote presentations from 2:00pm to 3:00pm, Monday, August 12 through Wednesday, August 14, setting the tone for each day's activities. Stay tuned to this website in the coming months for more Keynotes announcements and information.

Register now to share in the vision of these inspirational thought leaders.

Tony Hsieh

Monday, August 12, 2013 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Tony Hsieh, author of #1 New York Times Bestseller, "Delivering Happiness" and Zappos CEO, will deliver the Opening Keynote presentation at the inaugural SXSW V2V.

In 1999, at the age of 24, Tony Hsieh (pronounced Shay) sold LinkExchange, the company he co-founded, to Microsoft for $265 million.

He then joined Zappos as an advisor and investor, and eventually became CEO, where he helped Zappos grow from almost no sales to over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales annually, while simultaneously making Fortune Magazine’s annual “Best Companies to Work For” list. In November 2009, Zappos was acquired by Amazon.com in a deal valued at $1.2 billion on the day of closing.

Tony’s first book, "Delivering Happiness", was published on June 7, 2010, and outlines his path from starting a worm farm to life at Zappos. Tony shows how a very different kind of corporate culture is a powerful model for achieving success and happiness. “Delivering Happiness”, debuted at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list.

Most recently in October 2011, Tony was interviewed by Barbara Walters when she interviewed self-made entrepreneurs.  The piece included a visit to the headquarters of Zappos.com that was dubbed what “might just be the wackiest workplace in America.”

In addition to his responsibilities as CEO of Zappos.com, Tony is leading the “Downtown Project,” a group committed to transforming downtown Las Vegas into the most community-focused large city in the world.  This transformation includes the relocation of the Zappos.com offices from Henderson, Nevada to what was the old City Hall in downtown Las Vegas. 

Steve Case

Tuesday, August 13, 2013 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Steve Case, Chairman and CEO of Revolution, Co-Founder of America Online and Chairman of The Case Foundation, will deliver the Tuesday Keynote for SXSW V2V.

Recently called "one of the nation's greatest entrepreneurs" by CNBC, Steve Case is one of America’s best-known and most accomplished entrepreneurs and philanthropists, and a pioneer in making the Internet part of everyday life.

Steve co-founded America Online (AOL) in 1985, when the Internet was in its infancy. Under Steve’s leadership, AOL became the world’s largest and most valuable Internet company, and helped drive the worldwide adoption of a medium that has transformed business and society. AOL’s early focus on ease of use and social media set the stage for its rapid growth, and at its peak nearly half of Internet users in the United States used AOL. In 1992, AOL became the first Internet company to go public, and was the best performing stock of the 1990s, with a 11,616% return. Steve then negotiated what remains the largest merger in business history, bringing together AOL and Time Warner in a transaction that gave AOL shareholders a majority stake in the combined company. To facilitate the merger, Steve agreed to step down as CEO when the merger closed.

Steve then went back to his entrepreneurial roots and founded Revolution, an investment firm that has backed more than two dozen companies, including LivingSocial, Zipcar, AddThis, Everyday Health and FedBid.

Steve is also Chairman of The Case Foundation, which he established with his wife Jean. The Case Foundation has invested in hundreds of organizations, initiatives and partnerships over the past 15 years. Steve and Jean joined The Giving Pledge, started by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, and publicly reaffirmed their commitment to give away the majority of their wealth.

Steve was born and raised in Hawaii and retains active ties to his home state, but has lived in the Washington D.C. area for more than 25 years. He was a leading voice in shaping government policy regarding the Internet, and more recently, has been actively involved in a variety of efforts to promote entrepreneurship. Steve is Chairman of the Startup America Partnership, co-chair of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and was a member of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, where he chaired the efforts related to entrepreneurship.