About Nilofer

Nilofer Merchant — is an author, corporate director and speaker based in Silicon Valley, California.
Because it is unique, you might want help to know how to say the name. Any chance you remember those cookies that Nabisco creates called Nilla-wafer’s? That will help, cause the name sounds a lot like that but with an o in the middle. It’s Nil – O – fer. (Just don’t call her NIL or FUR, okay?)

Creds
As someone who has grown businesses — from Fortune 500s and silicon valley web start-ups — for 20 years, Nilofer is like a secret agent in knowing how to piece together exactly and only the parts that matter (frameworks, strategies, and cultural values) — to get the needed results.
Somewhere along the way, people started giving her monikers like “The Jane Bond of Innovation” because of her ability to guide companies through impossible odds, and that one stuck.
She’s worked for major companies like Apple, and Autodesk, and startups in the early days of the Web (Golive/ later bought by Adobe). And Logitech, Symantec, HP, Yahoo, VMWare, and many others have turned to her guidance to develop new product strategies, enter new markets, defend against competitors, and optimize revenues. And, Merchant is one of the few people who can say they’ve fought a competitive battle against Microsoft and won, for Symantec’s Anti-Virus $2.1B annual business. She has personally launched more than 100 products, netting $18B in sales, with expertise in Europe and US markets. Today she serves on boards for both public and private companies.

Ideas
CNBC has called Nilofer a visionary. Her ideas are shaping the future of many organizations.
“The Future is not created. The Future is Co-Created.” That’s the central thesis of her first management book, published by O’Reilly Media in 2010 and something she learned the hard way.
Her second book, 11 Rules for Creating Value in the #SocialEra, was released in the Fall of 2012, by Harvard Business Press. It was chosen by Fast Company as one of the Best Business Books of 2012. In it, Nilofer reconciles things that are often considered opposing forces—doing right by people and delivering results, collaborating and keeping focus, having a social purpose, and making money—because they are really not in opposition. They never have been. But it does take a more sophisticated approach to understand business models where making a profit doesn’t mean losing purpose, community, and connection. Finding the right balance between them is the key. And what is created will be rich in many senses of the word.
Explore. This blog has been around since 2003. You’ll find ideas that are both “provocative and yet practical” as Seth Godin has said. Nilofer has been featured in the WSJ, written innovation columns for BusinessWeek and Forbes. Her work as a columnist at Harvard Business Review (HBR) is on social business models and there’s a reason these ideas resonate. Find out for yourself.

Personal Tidbits
Wife and mother, a wilderness backpacker in the summer, and an avid hiker year-round — she gets around . She is an unfortunate addict of: caffeine, learning new ideas*, dark-chocolate-covered-orange-peels that are best when eaten in France, and all-things-bacon. While most blog posts at Yes & Know are not personal, some of her stories are shared here.

(*For example, at TED, 2011, picture courtesy of @duncan)

Want more?
If you are not, as yet, satiated in knowing about the background and details, specifics of career achievements / awards / recognitions received are cataloged on Linked In.

(P.S. If you want the Bio for a speaking event…)
For speaking, the bio, pictures, and podium introduction language are all conveniently located, here.