SPEAKING
Real stories. Hard numbers. No highlight reel.
Most business talks are a highlight reel with a microphone. Mine aren't. I've built seven ventures, exited two, raised capital when every "normal" door was closed, and made enough mistakes to fill a second keynote. Audiences don't need another success story — they need the honest version, told by someone still in the arena.
Signature Talks
In 2019 I spent $120 on custom metal cards engraved with the names of ten Carolina Panthers executives. Everyone told me it was dumb. Those cards sat in my truck for 15 months — and then they opened doors to PGA, NFL, and MLS partnerships, our largest client, and over $900,000 in revenue. And the wildest part: a former NFL president ended up working for me for six months, free.
Your audience walks away with: A framework for spotting their own "$120 bets"; small, asymmetric risks worth taking even when everyone says they're dumb. The patience playbook: why most people quit at month 3 of a 15-month wait, and how to hold on without losing your mind. How to engineer their own "luck" through preparation and positioning. And permission to trust their gut when the spreadsheet says no.
Best for: business conferences, entrepreneurship programs, sales teams, chambers of commerce.
How to fund a business when you don't have rich friends, a trust fund, or a warm intro to a VC. Alternative financing, creative partnerships, and the out-of-the-box strategies I've used to start businesses with virtually no startup capital.
Your audience walks away with: A real map of funding options beyond the bank and the VC; the creative, alternative, and partnership-based routes most founders never hear about. How to make an ask without a warm intro, a pedigree, or a pitch deck full of hockey sticks. The mindset shift that turns "I don't have the money" into "I don't have the money yet." And a permission slip to start before they feel ready, because almost nobody who made it felt ready either.
Best for: founders, accelerators, pitch events, business finance classes.
I had the titles, the businesses, the image — and I was quietly falling apart. This is the talk about what high achievers don't say out loud: burnout, imposter syndrome, and why vulnerability beats performance every time.
Your audience walks away with: Language for the thing high achievers feel but rarely say out loud; the gap between how successful they look and how they actually feel. Why vulnerability isn't the opposite of strength, it's the source of it. Practical ways to keep going through burnout and imposter syndrome without burning the whole thing down. And the relief of hearing someone who's "made it" admit he hasn't arrived either…because nobody has, and that's the point.
Best for: leadership retreats, men's organizations, EO/YPO chapters, university audiences.
Where I've Spoken
Guest lectures at colleges and universities on entrepreneurship, business finance, and leadership • Commencement speaker, Riverwalk Academy • The Gravity Center • Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) Charlotte • Military Bases, Chambers, economic development orgs, and founder communities across the Carolinas
Ryan Sanderson is the co-founder of Knowledge Perk Coffee — started in a 400-square-foot closet, now in cafés, stadiums, and pro sports venues across the Carolinas. He's a founder or partner in five additional ventures with two exits, York County's Small Business Person of the Year (2019), Charlotte Business Journal and York County 40 under 40, Chair of the Gravity Center Foundation, and the guy behind Not Quite There Yet Guy, a community for high achievers who are still climbing.
Book Ryan to Speak
Whether you want me to speak on a specific topic, chat with students, or just be another perspective on a panel; I am here to help!