Keynote Speaker. Entrepreneur. Author.
Catherine Connelly is a keynote speaker, entrepreneur, and author known for helping leaders design environments where people and ideas thrive. She co-founded the social network myYearbook at age fifteen, which grew into The Meet Group, a NASDAQ-listed company reaching millions of users worldwide, leading to a $500 million acquisition.
Drawing on nearly two decades of building and scaling a tech company, Catherine shares practical frameworks for better decision-making, navigating uncertainty, and creating support systems that fuel innovation and growth. She is the author of Designing Success and writes the newsletter Growing Up Startup, where she reflects on lessons from her entrepreneurial journey.
Signature Keynote
Designing Success: How Leaders Build Environments Where People and Ideas Thrive
Success rarely happens by accident. After building a company from a teenage idea to a $500 million exit, Catherine Connelly learned that success isn't just about talent or luck. It's about designing the environment around you.
In this engaging keynote, Catherine shares the practical frameworks she developed while growing myYearbook into The Meet Group, helping leaders think differently about decision-making, experimentation, and support systems that fuel innovation and resilience.
You’ll Discover:
• How to make better decisions in uncertain environments
• How to design support systems that accelerate growth
• Why experimentation beats perfectionism
• How to design environments where teams thrive
Catherine Connelly Speaker Reel
Additional Speaking Topics
Designing Better Decisions: How Leaders Navigate Uncertainty
Great leadership requires making decisions with incomplete information. Drawing from her experience building a $500 million company, Catherine shares practical frameworks for making thoughtful decisions, navigating risk, and avoiding common cognitive traps.
Women in Male-Dominated Industries: Designing Success on Your Terms
In this interactive workshop, Catherine shares strategies for finding your voice and making yourself heard in male-dominated fields, including how to build allies, surround yourself with the right people, and recognize and use your power to support others.
Learn by Doing: Innovation Lessons from a $500M Startup
Innovation rarely follows a straight path. Drawing from her experience building a startup with her brothers as a teenager and growing it into a global company acquired for $500 million, Catherine Connelly shares lessons on experimentation, adapting when plans fail, and continuing to make progress amid uncertainty.
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