Fireside Chat with David Conn, Visionary & Entrepreneurial CEO
David Conn is a visionary, entrepreneurial CEO with expertise in driving transformative growth. He is passionate about building brands that connect with consumers. David is a seasoned leader with a broad skill set including marketing, strategy, retail, ecommerce, finance, and business development. He assembles and leads superstar teams that execute quickly.
Most recently, David served as CEO and board member of the public company Sequential Brands Group. Sequential is a brand management business that owns a large portfolio of apparel brands including Avia, And1, Gaiam, Jessica Simpson, Joe’s Jeans, and Ellen Tracy.
Join David and CUCNY Governor, Moshmi Sanagavarapu, as they discuss David’s experience transforming companies, the consumer sector and his CEO experience. A Q&A will follow the fireside chat.
This event will be held on Zoom. You will receive your link upon registration.
REGISTER HERE
Registration required.
David Conn
In addition to his experiences mentioned above, David played a significant role in acquiring and relaunching the iconic FAO Schwarz and Sharper Image brands. They became a part of a new company he helped to create, ThreeSixty Brands; he was subsequently appointed CEO. Leveraging his broad expertise, he introduced an omni-channel strategy including an experiential, award winning, FAO Schwarz NYC flagship store. He also oversaw franchised locations worldwide, an e-commerce platform, and licensing agreements, resulting in over $200 million global annual sales.
A major private equity firm retained David to perform due diligence and play a critical role in acquiring True Religion, a denim and sportswear retailer. Post-acquisition, as CEO and board member of this $500 million global enterprise with over 2,000 employees and 180 stores, David led the development and rollout of an innovative new omni-channel store format. He also introduced an e-commerce platform that increased online sales from $15 million to over $50 million.
At VF Corporation, an $11 billion apparel company, David led the acquisition of premium denim brand Rock & Republic. As its brand president, he relaunched Rock & Republic, growing it from zero into a $200 million enterprise. He achieved this through strategic partnerships, improved Asian sourcing, expanded product development, and extensive licensing.
As co-founder of Iconix Brand Group, a publicly held company, David was instrumental in pioneering an innovative new business model that changed the industry. He drove growth of the company’s market capitalization from $60 million to $2 billion, share price from $2 to $25, and profitability from breakeven to over $125 million in EBITDA.
David earned a B.A. from Boston University. He currently resides in NYC.