Gary Swart

Venture Partner at Polaris Partners & former CEO of oDesk (the world's largest online workplace), Gary Swart possesses decades of experience in general management, sales, operations, staffing methods and internet platform strategy. Inspirational and down to earth, Gary operates on the corporate circuit as a keynote speaker sharing insights into entrepreneurship; the hiring and managing of teams; and the future of work.

A: £25k and over

Keynote Speakers Technology, Business, HR & People Management, Entrepreneurs, Sales

Passionate about helping businesses thrive, charismatic keynote speaker Gary Swart has honed his three decades' experience as a business leader and entrepreneur into a forward-thinking, collaborative approach to building and motivating young business minds .

A venture capital investor and veteran of Silicon Valley, where he played a hand in some of the most innovative and fastest-growing companies, Gary is credited with building the world’s largest online marketplace oDesk, which grew to more than eight million freelancers and one million clients under his leadership.

Driven by his extensive experience working with start-ups and small businesses that use oDesk, as well as by mentoring entrepreneurs and business school students, he offers strategic and practical insights into entrepreneurship, recruitment and team management, and the future of work (including online work).

He guided the company through periods of great change and hockey stick growth, and then through a successful merger with Elance in April of 2014, all the while serving as a champion for entrepreneurship and workplace innovation.

In 2014, Gary sought to leverage his operational experience and passion for growing start-ups and joined Polaris Partners as a Venture Partner. Polaris is a venerable venture capital firm that invests in exceptional technology and healthcare companies across all stages of their lifecycles. At the firm, Gary leads the Silicon Valley technology practice where he mentors business leaders at innovative companies working to change the way we live and work.

A LinkedIn Influencer, he regularly shares his commentary via the social network.

He has held numerous leadership positions at technology organizations including Intellibank where he was VP of Worldwide Sales responsible for building the direct and indirect sales organization and channel development.

Prior to Intellibank, he was a Business Unit Executive for IBM’s Rational Software Product Group, which he joined following the acquisition of Rational by IBM. Gary also served in numerous leadership and management positions at Pure Software early in his career.

His speaking topics include:

- Entrepreneurship

- Recruitment and team management

- The future of work

- Internet platform strategy