Lee Shupp

Lee Shupp is a futurist who helps clients grow and thrive by providing a deep understanding of people, culture and change. He guides companies to successful growth strategies by uncovering emerging opportunities and threats coming in the future. His goal is to enable companies to capitalize on change to gain competitive advantage.

FORESIGHT

Lee is an academically trained futurist from the University of Houston Futures program and a co-founder of the Association of Professional Futurists. A business futurist with extensive experience consulting to Fortune 500 companies, Lee knows how to translate foresight into business strategy and competitive advantage. He understands the challenges of bringing new products to market, and has worked with innovation, product and marketing teams to launch successful ventures. Based in Silicon Valley, Lee is an expert in technological innovation and its ability to disrupt markets and create exciting new opportunities for clients.

RESEARCH

Lee is an experienced researcher who helps clients bring new products, services and brands to market by deeply understanding people, culture, and change. Lee has traveled the world conducting hundreds of qualitative and ethnographic research projects for Fortune 500 clients. He understands global markets and cultural nuances. He can easily synthesize qualitative, quantitative, and data science findings to uncover insights that many others miss. Lee collaborates effectively with innovation, product and marketing teams, and is comfortable in the trenches with engineers, designers, and UX teams.

DYNAMIC PUBLIC SPEAKING

Lee is an accomplished public speaker known for his dynamic, entertaining and highly visual presentation style. He has engaged audiences at TEDx, South by Southwest, Commonwealth Club, Young Presidents Organization, AIGA Design Conference, Design Management Institute, Association of Professional Futurists, World Future Society, and many other venues. Lee moonlights as a lead singer in various bands, so he is in his element on stage. He is currently conducting online presentations to accommodate the restrictions we all face with COVID 19, often focusing on post pandemic futures.

WRITING THE FUTURE

Lee enjoys writing, and he is a frequent contributor to publications that focus upon the future. His latest publication is “Which Way America? Four Alternative Futures” in the recently released book entitled Aftershocks and Opportunities: Scenarios for a Post Pandemic Future. He is currently writing a chapter for the sequel to be released in August 2020.

OFFERING EXPERTISE TO THE MEDIA

Lee has offered expertise on segments about the future on BBC, CNN, NPR, and CNET. He has been interviewed for articles in many publications including American Demographics, Ad Age, Ad Map, and The Silicon Valley Business Journal.

TEACHING THE FUTURE

Lee teaches foresight courses at the university level in many different settings. He has developed Master’s level foresight courses at California College of the Arts, where students can earn a DMBA (an MBA with Design emphasis). He has taught Intro to Foresight, the required entry level foresight course for DMBA students, where they learn the foundational tools and approaches used in foresight work. He has taught Foresight Venture Studio, the capstone course for the program where students turn final projects into real world business ventures. Lee is also a frequent guest lecturer in other university settings, where he shares expertise on foresight, market research and design thinking.

INTERESTS

Lee loves people and culture, so he spends lots of time uncovering new trends and traveling the world. (He can’t wait to hit the road again!). Lee is a lifelong musician who writes and performs original Americana music. His music can be found at leeshuppmusic.com