If you inspire the outside world, you will win. If you inspire us, you will win an Otto Award. We are a group of industry leaders dedicated to building a stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem. We share a passion for great startups–and great stories. We can’t wait to see what you send us.
Scott Allison
Global Chairman & CEO, Allison + Partners
Steve Clayton
VP Global Public Affairs and Chief Storyteller, Microsoft.
Rohit Gupta
Managing Director, Future Communities Capital. Managing Director, Big Sur Capital
David Hornik
Founding Partner, Lobby Capital. General Partner, August Capital. Lecturer, Stanford GSB
Andy Kaplan
Co-founder and chairman of KC Global Media Entertainment; former President of Sony Pictures Worldwide
Rachel Konrad
Chief Brand Officer, The Production Board, former Director of Communications, Tesla,former Chief Communication Officer, Impossible Foods.
Cassie Kozyrkov
Chief Decision Scientist, Google
Matt McKenna
Senior Advisor, the Levinson Group. Former Head of Communications, Uber. Former spokesman for President Clinton.
Lucas Pols
President, Tech Coast Angels. Chairman, Spark xyz.
Aditi Roy
Emmy-winning journalist, formerly CNBC, ABC, NBC. Lecturer, the Wharton School.
Rick Smolan
CEO, Against All Odds Productions. NYT bestselling author. National Geographic, Time, and Life photographer
Justin Sternberg
Storytelling Executive, Snap. Lecturer, UCLA Anderson. Hollywood screenwriter.
Melanie Strong
Founding Partner, Next Ventures VC. Former VP, Nike
The Otto Awards were created to celebrate great startup storytelling. Great communications, narrative, and branding are increasingly leveraged by larger companies, but we noticed that entrepreneurs often overlook this powerful tool during the early days of a company when it can have an outsized impact. We hope that every entrepreneur will be so inspired by the stories that they read on this site that they one day will be able to win an Otto themselves. Speaking of, are you wondering who the awards are named after? Well, who is Oscar? Was there a person named Emmy? Tony? Forget the confusing and potentially apocryphal naming origins. We stand for clarity of story, which is why we decided to name these awards after a real person, Otto Pohl, a leader in communications storytelling for startups. He works for select clients through his agency Core Communications.
