Cover image for David Bell

David Bell.

Co-Founder, Idea Farm Ventures. Two decades at Wharton. The evidence-based voice on what AI is doing to how people shop.

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LinkedIn followers
Ex-Wharton Professor

About David.

Biography.

David Bell is a co-founder of Idea Farm Ventures and spent two decades at Wharton, where he created the school's first digital marketing and e-commerce courses. Inc. magazine called him the guru of the consumer and retail startup movement.

Through Idea Farm Ventures he invests in category-defining consumer companies. Early investments include Bonobos, acquired by Walmart for $310 million, Diapers.com, acquired by Amazon for $545 million, and Jet.com, acquired by Walmart for $3.3 billion, alongside Harry's, Warby Parker and Cotopaxi.

He advises founders, executive teams and Fortune 500 leaders on growth strategy, innovation, consumer behavior and the future of commerce. His research and insight have been sought by Alibaba, Nike, Google, Mastercard, Ralph Lauren, Shell and the OECD.

David's current focus is how AI is changing consumer discovery, shopping behavior and the future of retail. His peer-reviewed research draws on real data from high-growth businesses, which makes him a fit for brands whose audience is retail and commerce leaders who want evidence rather than prediction.

David's presence across channels.

PlatformFollowers

LinkedIn

@david-bell-086820

0k

X / Twitter

@davidbnz

0.0k

What David covers, and who shows up for it.

Talks About

  • eCommerce
  • Consumer & Retail
  • Venture Capital
  • Future Trends & Disruption
  • Business Strategy

Audience

  • Consumer & Retail
  • Innovation & Strategy Teams
  • Startup & VC Ecosystem
  • C-Suite & Executives
  • Marketing Leaders

Best for

  • Retail & eCommerce
  • Consumer Brands
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Startup
  • Enterprise & Fortune 500

Formats available.

  • Brand partnerships

    David brings the channel and the credibility. Social, newsletter, video, and more, running as long as the work needs..

    Channels & formats

    • LinkedIn

      • Video Post
      • Image Post
  • Speaking

    Keynotes and fireside chats built around David's own stories, lessons, and hard-won experience.

    Formats

    • In-Person Keynote
    • Virtual Keynote / Webinar
    • Podcast Guest
    • Fireside Chat
  • Live events

    Founder summits, product launches, and closed-door exec sessions. David hosts the room, then brings it home to their own audience.

    Formats

    • Event Facilitation
    • Attendance & content
    • Hosting & moderation
    • Retreats & summits
    • Executive engagement
  • Ambassador program

    Ongoing, not one-off. David takes on a small number of brand partners per year.

    Formats

    • Brand ambassador

FAQ

Questions before you brief David.

How booking works, what to expect, and how we scope work with David.

David has his own rate card, and the cost depends on the format, the deliverables, and how long the engagement runs. A single LinkedIn video sits at a very different level to a nine-month ambassador programme. Send us your brief with what you have in mind and we'll come back with pricing for David specifically.

We move quickly. Social and newsletter partnerships can go from brief to live in about a week when the diary allows, and live dates and ambassador programmes may need a little more notice. The real constraint is that David gets booked up, and we deliberately limit how much sponsored work any creator runs in a given period. An audience that sees back-to-back brand posts stops trusting them, and it's your campaign that pays for that. Send us your date with the brief and we'll tell you straight away what's open.

Yes. David takes in-person keynotes and live event bookings internationally, with travel and accommodation costed into the engagement. If the budget or the timing doesn't support travel, he also does virtual keynotes, webinars, fireside chats, and podcast appearances.

David writes and produces his own content. You brief the message, the audience, and the non-negotiables, and he decides how it lands, because that judgement is what his audience turns up for.  Scope and usage rights are agreed in the contract, and you see the work before it goes live.

Usually yes. David  may work with more than one brand in a category over time, but what matters is how it's spaced and what's agreed. We manage that actively, with exclusivity periods and gaps between competing campaigns, so your work isn't running alongside a competitor's and neither of you is paying for a diluted message. Tell us your category in the brief and we'll be straight with you about what's already committed.

Interested in working with David?

Every query gets a rapid response from David's manager.

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