I'm launching my own company

For the last two months, I've been talking to event professionals, speakers, and agents about what I wanted to build next.

Three things kept coming up for me.

First, I went back to what originally drew me to this space. It wasn't the technology, it was the people. The stories behind how someone created a reality that didn't previously exist. A voice assistant that lived in your pocket, an app that could identify any song playing anywhere, or a global movement of 100,000 started from an island with 178 people. That's what gets me fired up, and that's what I wanted to spend my time on.

Second, I realized it’s impossible to have deep relationships with 500+ speakers. You can book them, but it’s much harder to explain to a client why each person is the right fit for their audience, goals, and experience.

Third, I knew I wanted to represent speakers I love working with — because of their impact, their mission, and who they are as people. Not just their credentials on paper.

So I built it.

Today I'm launching Silicon Valley Speakers.

The name isn't about a location; it's about the mindset. Every speaker on the roster imagined something that didn't exist and made it real. Founders who were told no, athletes who defied the odds, and pioneers who made the future tangible before anyone else could see it.

The roster is small on purpose, with seven speakers, and I know each of them and their content well. When you reach out about an event, I'm not searching a database; I already know who fits.

Let me introduce you to three of them.

Zach Rattner has been building in AI for over a decade, long before ChatGPT made it a dinner table conversation. He's the founder and CTO of a 70+ person company solving real problems in the insurance and moving industries across 20+ countries. In a world full of AI thought leadership noise, Zach's advice is grounded in actually running a company. He can walk technical teams through real AI integration, and he can sit with leadership to discuss what it actually means to build an AI-first company in physical industries.

Shannon Rowbury and I met at a dinner last year and immediately hit it off. She's a three-time Olympian and the first American woman to ever medal in the Olympic 1500-meter race — a bronze medal she waited 12 years to receive after competitors were disqualified for doping. CNN and the Washington Post covered her story. She ran in what many call the dirtiest race in Olympic history, and came out the other side with a framework she now brings to corporate teams: the Medalist Mindset. She's spoken at Microsoft, Abbott, Palo Alto Networks, and more — helping leaders build resilience and perform when the pressure is highest. When I heard her story, I knew I wanted to help share it on more stages.

Milly Tamati is someone whose mission I loved. She built Generalist World — a 100,000-person global movement — from a Scottish island with 178 residents. If you work in events, you know the reality: you're expected to be a marketer, a logistics coordinator, a salesperson, a contract reviewer, and a dozen other things simultaneously. Milly's message is about the power of being a generalist in a world that tells you to specialize. It resonated with me as an entrepreneur, and I think it'll resonate with your audience too.

The full roster I’m launching with also includes Adam Cheyer (co-creator of Siri), Chris Barton (inventor of Shazam), Drue Kataoka (visual AI pioneer who's keynoted at Davos and the Vatican), and Mo Tiwari (Google AI researcher and former OpenAI, Stanford CS PhD). Browse everyone at svsb.ai.

My goal is simple: help you find the perfect speaker for your event — AI or not — who has real experience to share and will make a lasting impact on your attendees.

If you or someone you know has an event coming up and wants help finding the right speaker, reply to this email or reach out through svsb.ai. I'd love to help.

Till next time,

Noah Cheyer

Do More With Less Using AI

PS: Know a speaker who's created a reality that didn't previously exist? I'm always looking for people who prove what's possible. Send them my way.