Brian Halligan

Brian is the founder of Propeller Ventures. The idea grew out of a simple, science-driven conviction he heard repeatedly from oceanographers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute: the ocean is already absorbing an enormous share of our the earth’s heat and carbon, and at a planetary scale, it is our best lever to help pull us out of further climate damage if we handle it with care and ingenuity. Along the way, he created Propeller’s Ocean MBA, a three-day mini‑program for ocean entrepreneurs, to help ocean founders level-up their skills and strategies.

Brian is the co-founder of HubSpot (NYSE: HUBS), the pioneering CRM and marketing platform he led as CEO for fifteen years, growing it from a two-person startup into a publicly traded company with over 200,000 customers. He coined the term “inbound marketing” and together with his co-founder Dharmesh built a global movement around that concept, fundamentally reshaping how businesses attract and engage customers.

Today, he is a Senior Advisor to Sequoia Capital where he helps startup founders turn into scale up CEOs and hosts the Long Strange Trip: CEO to CEO podcast, interviewing the world’s best founders and leaders. He is also a Senior Lecturer at MIT where he developed the popular Scaling Entrepreneurial Ventures class, which he has taught for over a decade.

A passionate fan and semi-scholar of the Grateful Dead, Brian co-wrote Marketing Lessons From The Grateful Dead. As the proud owner and steward of Jerry Garcia's Wolf guitar, he continues to honor the legacy of the iconic band. Currently, Brian is working on a film that explores the life and times of John Perry Barlow.

He holds a BSEE from the University of Vermont and an MBA from MIT Sloan.