We are excited to announce the launch and spinoff of the Advantage Foundry Network (AFN) from Advantary!
We built AFN to serve leaders in their quest for success in the broadest sense of the word. To meet new challenges and find opportunity in change, one of the greatest assets of any leader is the collective knowledge and capability in their network. AFN exists to bring together a global network of driven, curious leaders with diverse experiences so they can both identify new opportunities and work together to capitalize on them.
Where It All Began — CEO Roundtables
In January of 2020 (a lifetime ago), my colleague and friend, Stephen Kuhn, called me with an idea. As an avid networker with a love of connecting, he wanted to hold a series of CEO Roundtables bringing together CEOs to freely share their experiences and challenges on an equal playing field in a moderated format. Looking back, neither one of us could have understood how timely and seminal that idea was.
Since then, we’ve hosted over 100 Roundtables with 400 CEOs from over 80 countries and these experiences have helped us to re-think how networks operate and redefine how they can be a driver of success like never before. These CEOs modeled for us (and for each other) that the old way of seeing the world as a zero-sum game is fundamentally over…and the ‘rising tide raises all boats’ model is the way of the future.
What’s Next – AFN Membership Community
Building on that success, we are introducing AFN — a membership community and a global network built on a shared commitment to adopt and adapt to this new business model. Learn more here.
Our Core Beliefs
Leaders with the best ability to digest information and utilize the best connections will realize the greatest possibilities of our world. By giving members a chance to connect, communicate, and better understand one another, we will increase their likelihood of exchanging ideas, supporting one another, and innovating across multiple dimensions.
By leveraging and amplifying the diversity of thoughts and experiences our members are exposed to, we help them open the door to new possibilities.
By providing our members an intelligent network powered by sophisticated technology, AFN becomes a force multiplier in how individuals interact to uncover, discover, mine, and leverage the power of ideas and find opportunity in our changing world.
When you can collaborate with those outside your inner circle and beyond the natural boundaries of your company, community, region and industry, and in new ways, you open your aperture, gaining access to and benefitting from the best ideas no matter where they come from.
Why Now?
AFN is made possible by major global shifts already underway. Communication with anyone – anywhere on our planet – is now virtually without cost. Vast repositories of knowledge are at our fingertips. Opportunities to learn and innovate are growing exponentially. Technologies like Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and advanced network analysis (amongst many others) have changed our ability to understand the world.
Also, 2020 changed how we live and interact. We now meet with people on the other side of the globe as easily as we meet someone across town; geography no longer constrains the flow of ideas. We’ve gained productive time with fewer hours commuting. And, by utilizing new technologies, we have a greater ability to distill meaning and find the interconnections between ideas and interactions than ever before.
Take the Next Step
If you’re a CEO, and you believe in a world of possibility, we look forward to welcoming you to our rapidly growing global network. Learn More.
Matt Sitter
Advantage Foundry Network CEO