Fresh off Olympic gold, Mike Krzyzewski – legendary Duke University and USA Basketball Head Coach – today announced the launch of PowerForward, a new B2B digital, video-based leadership development platform focused on fostering growth for emerging leaders across the country. Joining Krzyzewski as founders of PowerForward are leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA), which is incubating the company, and Duke and Harvard Business School alumna Chrissie Gorman, who is running the company as CEO.

PowerForward is available to via subscription and features a robust collection of interactive content from Coach K and other prominent influencers from various sectors designed to drive impactful discussion and team-building. The core audience for PowerForward ranges from fast-growing organizations to large-scale enterprises looking to empower up and coming leaders on their teams.

“Since my time at West Point, leadership has been a core passion of mine and something I’ve taught my teams at Duke and USA Basketball. PowerForward captures the essence of many core leadership principles I’ve shared with my players for decades and applies it to business teams,” says Krzyzewski. “What energized me about PowerForward is the ability to share my own storytelling approach with an entirely new audience off the court in the corporate and start-up communities.”

“With turnover in the workplace, younger employees are increasingly being thrust into leadership roles with limited preparation and limited time to develop as a leader,” adds Gorman. “We believe there is an incredible opportunity in the $10B B2B leadership market for PowerForward to take the experiential approach Coach K has used successfully to develop players for the last four decades and empower these emerging leaders to realize their full potential.”

Strategic partners in the venture include Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue, Mandalay Entertainment Chairman & CEO Peter Guber, Oaktree Co-Chairman Bruce Karsh and Bain Capital Managing Director Steve Pagliuca.

“Coach K’s legendary leadership has created many champions both on and off the court,” says Cue. “Now with PowerForward, a much broader base of people can be inspired by his incredible perspective and teachings.”

“As someone who has run companies and sports franchises, I have seen first-hand the parallels between what you learn on the court and apply to the boardroom,” adds Guber. “But this isn’t a rah-rah ‘let’s win one for the team’ pep talk, but specific leadership lessons that translate seamlessly, yet can shift the entire paradigm of corporate leadership needed to inspire today’s ‘disruptive’ workforce.

“Coach K’s leadership influence transcends his success on the basketball court, translating seamlessly into meaningful lessons applicable to any area of business,” said Brian Weinstein, Head of Global Client Strategy, CAA, and PowerForward board member. “We worked closely with Coach K and Chrissie to ideate a new business that can deliver these powerful strategies to companies of all sizes and across all fields, and we look forward to continuing to harness the power of CAA’s vast resources to grow PowerForward.”

Based on its content and experiential approach, PowerForward is differentiated in the B2B leadership development space and built around the following key components:

  • Top Influencers – Spanning sports, business, military and beyond, PowerForward features the world’s most influential thought leaders in an interactive setting.
  • Real-World Decisions – PowerForward content immerses emerging leaders in the behind-the-scenes stories while challenging them to make real-time decisions.
  • Team-Building Focus – PowerForward is designed with team building in mind. Online and offline discussions deepen group learning and extend the learning well beyond the final video.

Throughout his illustrious career Coach K has used specific keywords - leadership themes that resonate with his players. They include adaptability, failure, ownership, next play, and passion, among others. PowerForward is structured around these themes to optimize the user experience and easily share perspective, tactical tips, and relevant experience.

For additional information on PowerForward and to request a product demonstration, please visit gopowerforward.com.