Pete Blackshaw

Pete Blackshaw is a globally recognized digital brand builder, innovator, futurist, author and “urgent optimist.”

He leads with two core beliefs: “Trust your inner consumer” and “Understand how startups work — how they think, design, exploit data, and iterate — and then apply that understanding to everything you do.” These beliefs have been cornerstones of his career. He presently serves as CEO of Cincinnati startup catalyst and venture fund Cintrifuse. In his role as Cintrifuse CEO, Pete draws heavily on his experience as both a corporate leader and an entrepreneur. “Being able to see the world from both vantage points,” he says, “enables me to help entrepreneurs looking for business and corporate leaders looking for innovation. It’s a personal high when we help make these partnerships work.” 

Earlier he served as Global Vice President of Digital and Social Media of Nestlé, based in Switzerland. He guided digital innovation for hundreds of other Nestlé brands while creating and leading the company’s industry-recognized Digital Acceleration Team (DAT), Silicon Valley Innovation Outpost (SVIO), and Open Innovation Platform (Henri@Nestle). 

Before Nestlé, Pete served as CMO of NM Incite, a joint venture between Nielsen and McKinsey. Earlier in his career, he co-founded Procter & Gamble’s digital marketing organization and then left P&G to launch PlanetFeedback.com, one of the web’s first consumer-feedback portals. He also co-founded the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA). He’s a two-time Cannes Innovation Lion Juror. He recently served as an Innovation Juror at the 2019 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. 

Pete is the author of Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000: Running a Business in Today’s Consumer-Driven World, and he is a featured columnist for Advertising Age. He was a 2015 MediaPost “Online All Star” Winner, a 2014 inductee of the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Hall of Fame, and a 2010 Grand Prize winner of the “Great Minds” award from the Advertising Research Foundation. Most recently, he was inducted into the American Marketing Association’s “Cincinnati Marketing Legends” Hall of Fame. Pete is a graduate of Harvard Business School and the University of California, Santa Cruz. He and his family live in Cincinnati, Ohio.