John Danner

Lecturer (Continuing) | Senior Fellow, Haas School of Business
circle headshot of John Danner

"Every organization or leader experiences failure. It is the biggest, most valuable yet untapped resource to success."

John Danner is a bestselling author, faculty member at two of the world’s finest universities, popular public speaker, experienced executive, and advisor to global enterprises, government agencies and emerging ventures. His work as a management consultant, entrepreneur, lawyer and public official has centered on helping organizations deal with the leadership, strategy and innovation challenges and opportunities of unprecedented change.

He is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller, Built for Growth: How Builder Personality Shapes Your Business, Your Team, and Your Ability to Win (Harvard Business Review Press, 2017), about the personality characteristics of highly successful entrepreneurs; as well as the Amazon bestseller, The Other ‘F’ Word: How Smart Leaders, Teams, and Entrepreneurs Put Failure to Work (John Wiley & Sons, 2015), about strategies to leverage failure as a strategic resource. His articles and interviews have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, Entrepreneur, Inc., Forbes, The Economist, Chief Executive and many other US and global media channels.

As a member of the professional faculties at the University of California Berkeley and Princeton University, he teaches executives, graduate and undergraduate students from around the world; and has launched popular campus-wide courses on both campuses. He also anchors and contributes to a number of executive education programs on leadership, strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship for several other prominent organizations in various locations globally – at UC Berkeley, Yale, the Aspen Institute and other US and international organizations.

Academic Background 

JD, UC Berkeley

MPH and MAEd, UC Berkeley

BA, Harvard University

Publications & Media

Videos 

The Entrepreneurial Mindset in Large Corporations

WATCH VIDEO

A Look Inside the Startup Bootcamp for Executives program

WATCH VIDEO

Failure as a Strategic Resource

WATCH VIDEO

Growth Strategy & Innovative Culture

WATCH VIDEO
VIEW MORE
Books 

The Other "F" Word: How Smart Leaders, Teams, and Entrepreneurs Put Failure to Work

VIEW BOOK

Built for Growth: How Builder Personality Shapes Your Business, Your Team, and Your Ability to Win

VIEW BOOK
VIEW MORE
Papers & Articles 

Accelerating Insider Entrepreneurship

VIEW

The 4 Personality Types of Successful Corporate Entrepreneurs

VIEW

EX-Factors for Designing an Innovative Organizational Culture

VIEW
VIEW MORE
Academic Background 

JD, UC Berkeley

MPH and MAEd, UC Berkeley

BA, Harvard University

Publications & Media

Videos 

The Entrepreneurial Mindset in Large Corporations

WATCH VIDEO

A Look Inside the Startup Bootcamp for Executives program

WATCH VIDEO

Failure as a Strategic Resource

WATCH VIDEO

Growth Strategy & Innovative Culture

WATCH VIDEO
VIEW MORE
Books 

The Other "F" Word: How Smart Leaders, Teams, and Entrepreneurs Put Failure to Work

VIEW BOOK

Built for Growth: How Builder Personality Shapes Your Business, Your Team, and Your Ability to Win

VIEW BOOK
VIEW MORE
Papers & Articles 

Accelerating Insider Entrepreneurship

VIEW

The 4 Personality Types of Successful Corporate Entrepreneurs

VIEW

EX-Factors for Designing an Innovative Organizational Culture

VIEW
VIEW MORE