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- About Us
- About Us
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- About Us
Brian Tam
Thinking partner for thoughtful founders
I LOVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP. I love making, creating, and building. I love strategizing and talking business alllll day.
My dream is to work with thousands of companies, at every stage of maturity, and dissect what it takes to create something that really makes impact.
I founded Let's Make Great! in 2013 with this goal in mind... and have since worked with hundreds of passionate founders and early-stage teams to systematically develop new products, services and brands.
Having started 2 companies, I know the challenges of entrepreneurship... and feel intensely grateful for every opportunity, every brand developed, every founder conversation, and every bit of growth earned.
Let's make great!
CEO at Let’s Make Great!
Professor, NOVA SBE
Board of Directors, HOS
3x TEDx speaker
Author, “Awrignawl Creativity”
Creator, PROTO innovation
Producer, The Rebuild
The central challenge of creative
entrepreneurshipThe core challenge of entrepreneurship is navigating the unknown. We work in "white spaces," where even the problems aren’t fully defined, let alone the solutions.
This is made even more complex because creative work is so personal — our passion, purpose, and personality are all wrapped up in what we do (for better or worse).
Furthermore, so much resides in the founder's head as concepts, visions and ideas that it's also a deeply individual process of untangling, detaching and transforming these abstractions into reality.
Using a combination of strategy consulting, design thinking facilitation, and empathetic coaching, Brian guides founders... to both further examine blind-spots and attack opportunities to create meaningful growth.
A bit more about Brian
In addition to his work with founders, Brian is a speaker, writer and creator; having spoken at conferences like TEDx, PechaKucha, and Ad:Tech. He writes regularly, sharing his thoughts on creativity with his first book "Awrignawl Creativity" published in 2019.
In 2017, he led the creation of PROTO, an innovation game for aspiring founders. He's also the producer of The Rebuild -- a documentary following founders navigating their businesses through the early chaos of 2020.
Born in New York and proudly raised in New Jersey, Brian spent 14 years in Shanghai, China to drive the dynamic changes that were emerging there.
An avid bike-packer, he's cycled the 1200km circumference of Taiwan and is preparing for the next big adventure in Europe. He is currently building a new base of operations in Lisbon, Portugal.
in the MEDIA
Interviews, Podcasts, Articles
- Apr 2024 - HISH
"Biz Dev for First-Time Entrepreneurs" - Dec 2023 - The Lisbonaire’s Podcast
“Ghosting in Business, Lisbon, & Learning” - Feb 2023 - Wild Coaches
"Entrepreneurship Beyond Freelance" - Oct 2022 - ProblemAttic
"Social Innovation In Lisbon" - Jun 2022 - Ottawa Design Club
"004: Origins" - Dec 2021 - BritCham Live Lounge Podcast
"Corporate Innovation and Intrapreneurship" - Feb 2021 - The Noodle Shop Podcast
"Don't talk about Death" - Dec 2020 - Founders Club
"How to Create New Systems" - Aug 2020 - Entrepreneur's Handbook
"6 Startup Lessons" - Jul 2020 - SCOLAR Network
"15 Principles of Rebuilding" - May 2020 - The School of Innovation
"How to Build an Innovation Agency in China" - May 2019 - Selective Attention
"Creative Entrepreneurship" - Oct 2018 - Bai Xian Asia Institute
"An Unique Way of Teaching" - Jun 2018 - Qurious China
"Innovation in China" - Mar 2018 - ChinAccelerator's Startup Pulse
"Driving Innovation" - Nov 2017 - Professionals in Asia
"Willing to Die" - Jul 2017 - Strikingly
"Hail Mary Marketing MVP" - Jul 2017 - Tech in Shanghai
"Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs" - May 2017 - RJ Clothing
"Gentlemen in China" - Aug 2016 - 48 Hour Film Project
"Get Creative with Your Camera" - Jul 2015 - Zebra Innovation Week
"Advice to Young Innovators" - Jul 2014 - ServCorp for Startups
"Masterminding Our Success"
Conferences, Talks, Presentations
- Sep 2024 - Nova | Haddad Entrepreneurship Institute
"From Idea to MVP" - Jun 2023 - Hult Prize Judge
"Redesign the Fashion Industry" - Aug 2022 - MindMix
"Rebuilding Your Business Development" - Apr 2021 - Lex Mundi Business Roundtable
"Business Development Roundtable" - Apr 2020 - Italian Chamber
"Entrepreneurship during COVID-19" - Oct 2019 - Startup Grind
"Gamifying of Entrepreneurship" - Aug 2019 - Agora Space
"From Idea to Business" - Nov 2018 - Global Entrepreneurship Network
"Start. No excuses." - Jun 2018 - Yunqi 2050
"3 Dimensions of Innovation" - Mar 2018 - Asia Pacific Week Berlin
"Gamified Innovation" - Dec 2017 - International Innovation Summit
"Business Model Innovation" - May 2017 - Shanghai Pecha Kucha at WeWork
"Creativity & Passion" - Jul 2017 - CoResponsibility
"The Future of Productivity" - Apr 2016 - Google for Entrepreneurs
"Finding Insights in the Open" - Jan 2016 - Startup Leadership Program
"Design Thinking Applied" - Nov 2015 - TEDx Suzhou
"3 Questions to Unlock Your Future" - Jul 2015 - TEDx HultShanghai
"Limits, Labels and Our Inner Infinity" - Nov 2014 - Manchester Business School
"The Future of Work" - Jul 2014 - BMW China
"Pecha Kucha: What is Love?" - Aug, 2013 - The Thinkery
"The Future of Work" - Jul, 2013 - Chinaccelerator
"Startup Team Building Like the Avengers"
- Apr 2024 - HISH
Praise for Brian
Entrepreneurs & corporate innovators
"completely exceeded my expectations"
He guided me through a structured brand naming process.
It felt almost psychological, tapping into my subconscious ideas. Highly recommend working with Brian!
Federica Strobietto
Founder
Startup in Stealth Mode
"Brian’s reputation for innovation is well-earned!
My business and I are so much better off for all the time I spent with Let’s Make Great, and I look forward to working with Brian again."
John Pasden
Founder
Allset Learning"A Strong Sense of Purpose
Let's make Great! - Brian lives this in everything that he does.
Brian is all positive energy, paying it forward and aiming for the best."Ed Dean
Co-Founder,
Minerva and Co.“Brian has a special talent
that makes people feel at ease and comfortable, while objectively moving the conversations forward.
Both intellectually stimulating and emotionally inspiring."
Carol Zhou
SVP
Shiseido Innovation"Brian has an inspiring way of seeing the world
and is able to break that down into simple, practical actions.
I have Brian's book, his game and we even engaged Let's Make Great! on a few creative trainings. I'm an absolute fan!"
Daniel Seyferle
Chief Creative Officer
SMS Group"I Shared my Journey
with Brian in the hopes to get help with the stressors of the job.
He is sharp and equipped with a variety of resources, drawing from a healthy knowledge base and network.It has been transformative."
Christian Tanja
Senior Counselor
CACS"Let's Make Great! was incredible!
Brian's analytics were extremely insightful & the approach to the research itself was so creative.
Brian understood the business goals of the project and came up with ways and ideas that we have never thought of!"
Mandy Hu
Marketing Manager
United Dutch Breweries"supercharged growth
Thanks to Brian's empathy and ability to ask deep questions, I have found myself experiencing supercharged personal growth.
I would highly recommend working with Brian!
Sean Hanratty
Independent Photography
ProfessionalWork with Brian
/// Share your challenge, project request or creative questions by booking a diagnostic session below.
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© Let’s Make Great! 2024