Design Leadership: Peter Clarke of Product Ventures

As we look forward to Fuse 2012 we'll be featuring some of our exciting speakers here on the blog. Peter Clarke, founder and C.E.O. of Product Ventures with be joining our Design Leadership Symposium on Wednesday, April 18, 2012.

You might be familiar with Peter due to this recent feature in the New York Times "From Drumrolls to Designs" where he discusses his journey from drummer in the Fleet Marine Force Pacific Band to C.E.O. of his own design firm Product Ventures.

Clarke is no stranger to leadership, growing a single person operation to one with close to 50 employees. On first starting out with his own firm, Clarke says:

"I couldn't obtain a bank loan anywhere, so I applied for 13 credit cards. If I needed supplies, I'd pull out each card, one by one, until I could find a card that hadn't reached its limit. I was working six days a week, often until 3 a.m., and rarely got out of my pajamas. On days I had to deliver my designs to clients, I'd hire a friend's brother to drive me so I could sleep for a couple of hours in the car."

Learn more about the Product Ventures story at this year's full day Design Leadership Symposium, which will feature sessions on creative collaboration, inspiring and igniting a team, and leading for innovative and disruptive thinking. To learn more about the symposium, download the brochure.

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