A History of INBOUND Guest Speakers

The INBOUND 2025 Speakers have officially been announced! 

Amy Poehler, Dario Amodei, and Marques Brownlee are a few of the top speakers announced at INBOUND 2025, and we are super excited to hear their insights. 

As well as keynotes from co-founders Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, there has been a plethora of top speakers at HubSpot's INBOUND Marketing Conference, all the way since its first event in 2011. One of the ways to measure the event's major growth is therefore through these speakers. 

Coming from all industries, countries, and backgrounds, the INBOUND guests have created the inspirational event that INBOUND has become. Steadman Hub have created a rundown of the top guests, all the way from the very first conference. Though these are just a small number of the influential voices we've seen.

2024: 

Ryan Reynolds: 

Last year, Reynolds shared his experiences from marketing Deadpool with a lack of funds, creating a gin company, to forming his very own marketing brand.

Serena Williams: 

Williams spoke about ‘Serena Ventures’ and the companies she’s successfully backed, such as ‘Rebelstork’ and Esusu. Her keynote also placed focus on recognising the lack of diversity in venture capital.

Kara Swisher: 

American Tech journalist, Recode co-founder, and author of BurnBook, Swisher spoke about how the technology industry is evolving and what we can do to keep up with AI.

2023:

 Reece Witherspoon:

The actor and creator of Hello Sunshine and Reese's book club spoke about how it's grown and progressed into further media outlets. She also delved into facing rejection and the importance of partnerships when growing your business.

Derek Jeter:

The basketball champion spoke about his experience with leadership, on and off the basketball court.

Dr Yvette Noel-Scure:

Beyonce and Kelly Rowland's publicist told her story on ‘crafting narratives that speak in an authentic and truthful voice’.

Instagram

Steven Bartlett - Best known for Diary of a CEO and Dragons Den, Steven Bartlett spoke about how to ‘future proof’ your business to fit the curve.

2022:

Barack Obama - The former US president sat down with HubSpot's co-founder, Brian Halligan, to speak about culture and community within positions of leadership.

Viola Davis - Actress Viola Davis spoke about how she supports women in positions of leadership, as well as covering her own experiences throughout her career to inspire others.

Dr Jane Goodall - Zoologist, primatologist, anthropologist and chimpanzee expert, Dr Jane Goodall discussed the urgent need to protect our planet and collective responsibility to take action before it's too late. 

 2021:

Oprah Winfrey - Oprah Winfrey discussed her experiences with leadership, as well as how to use setbacks and mistakes to grow.

Spike Lee - Filmmaker and producer, shared his journey in playing such a big role in representative media.

Hasan Minhaj - Best known for his work as a comedian and actor, Hasan Minhaj spoke about his success in creating the comedy show ‘Patriot Act’. 

2020:

2020's INBOUND was a little different. Due to COVID, the event had no choice but to go virtual, but this didn't stop some amazing keynotes.

Bob Iger - Iger spoke about what he’s learnt in being the leader of the legacy that is Walt Disney, and his experiences as Executive Chairman.

John Legend and Chrissy Teigen- The couple discussed how to choose meaningful work that matters.

Alicia Garza - Alicia is the co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement and a pivotal part of 2020 history. She discussed how to take a stand and push back against racial and social injustice.

 2019:

Jennifer Garner - Actress Jennifer Garner discussed her venture with John Foraker, Once Upon a Farm, and its success as an organic baby food brand.

Katie Couric: Founder of Katie Couric Media, Katie chatted with Jennifer Garner about ‘Once Upon a Farm’, as well as her own experiences with her media company.

Jada Pinkett Smith: Her Facebook show, Red Table Talk, had launched the year before, and Pinkett Smith discussed its immediate success. 

 2018:

Anjali Sud: The CEO of Vimeo, a video hosting platform, discussed the challenges in her position.

Brian Fanzo: Keynote Speaker Brian Fanzo hosted a session discussing the development of social media throughout 2018, and how businesses can make the most of its advancements.

Payal Kadakia: Kadakia is the founder of ClassPass, a subscription that allows you to explore different fitness classes in your city. She discussed how she built her brand by tuning into her personal fitness passions.

 2017:

Michelle Obama: The former First Lady discussed her experience throughout the Obama presidency. This ranged from the immense pressure in such a powerful position, as well as her flourishing achievements for America. Obama also notoriously discussed Donald Trump's recent election, without even mentioning his name.

John Cena: This was John Cena’s first public appearance following his loss at WWE No Mercy, and Cena shared his experience in personal branding, and taught his audience valuable marketing strategy.

Brené Brown: Brené is a podcaster, and her talk taught self-belief and how vulnerability is a strength. 

2016

Alec Baldwin: Podcast host of ‘Here’s the Thing’, Baldwin had planned to discuss business, but instead his keynote heavily focused on American politics. It featured his famous impression of Donald Trump. As INBOUND 2016 was so close to the results of the election, many of the INBOUND 2016 speakers actually altered their speeches to voice their political opinions.

Anna Kendrick: The actress chose to speak about social media in her speech, and the importance of being your authentic self.

Gary Vaynerchuk: The author and businessman stressed how important it is to fail, and how you can use the experience to learn and assure success in the future.

Reshma Saujani: The founder of Girls Who Code, delivered an emotional speech on women's experiences in technology, stressing the importance of breaking gender norms and increasing female presence in tech.

 2015

Seth Godin: The author delivered the first keynote of 2015. Godin gave valuable lessons on marketing strategy in terms of your authority to make changes outside your comfort zone.

Brené Brown: Brown’s keynote was interesting as she bravely discussed some taboo topics at the time. She tapped into human emotions such as fear and shame, which were unusual and unexpected for the 2015 audience, but largely necessary.

Daniel Pink: The author’s keynote focused on selling, how important it is to tap into your audience as a salesperson and strategy to help people buy your product.

 2014:

Martha Stewart: The American Businesswoman shared insights into her experience in creating a successful brand.

Malcolm Gladwell: Gladwell’s speech was titled ‘The Underdog’. He spoke about various sales techniques and the potential impact your ideas could have with the right approach.

David Meerman Scott: His speech focused on the convergence of marketing and sales.

 2013:

Seth Godin: Seth delivered an inspiring marketing speech and delved into the changes the marketing industry is facing.

John Jantsch: Small business expert John Jantsch spoke about key business objectives and the importance of building a community.

2012:

Gary Vaynerchuk: His speech at INBOUND's second year focused on care and focus for your loyal customer, stressing the importance of human nature behind the business.

2011: 

The first-ever INBOUND event was held in Boston, it was created by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah as a response to the lack of marketing focus at regular conferences, and year on year has developed ever since!