Sam Conniff

Sam Conniff is the author of Be More Pirate, the best-selling book that turned the history of golden-age pirates into a framework for rule-breaking innovation and courageous leadership inside organizations. He founded the youth marketing agency Livity and the BAFTA and Cannes-winning creative studio Don't Panic, and later built Uncertainty Experts, a hybrid of interactive documentary, online learning, and psychological research that helps teams and leaders work with uncertainty rather than against it. His consulting and speaking work has reached brands from Google and Salesforce to Unilever, Red Bull, and PlayStation.

Conniff speaks to marketing, leadership, and innovation audiences about professional rule-breaking, creating useful trouble, and building the emotional resilience that lets people act despite ambiguity. His sessions combine narrative, behavioral science, and interactive exercises that ask audiences to measure and stretch their own tolerance for the unknown. He draws on his background as a social entrepreneur and his research into how people make decisions under pressure, translating it into practical tools for teams facing change.

Audiences include senior marketers, founders, and leaders looking to challenge convention and move with more confidence when the path ahead is unclear.