SIGNATURE PRESENTATIONS
Engagements start at $5,000
BUILT TO FINISH
The unexpected parallels between building a company and training for endurance events. Both require more than grit alone. Practical frameworks for resilience, focus, and finishing what you started.
Steven tailors each presentation to your audience and event format. Talks are available as keynotes, workshops, or breakout sessions.
WHAT YOUR AUDIENCE WILL EXPERIENCE
This isn’t motivational fluff. It’s real stories from the boardroom and the racecourse. They include the $10 million mistake, the CEO betrayals, the 11-year journey from “can’t run a mile” to Kona. Your audience gets practical frameworks for resilience, focus, and finishing what they started. They’ll leave knowing that late bloomers still win. That going the distance doesn’t mean grinding until you break.
THE GOAL ISN’T JUST TO START. IT’S TO FINISH, AND FINISH STRONG.
Book Steven as your keynote speaker and give your audience more than inspiration, give them a framework they’ll actually use. They’ll walk away ready to:
- Set audacious goals and build a real plan to reach them
- Lead with grace under pressure. Without burning out their teams or themselves.
- Surround themselves with the right people to go further, faster
- Stop chasing shortcuts and commit to the long game that actually works
Speaker Intro
Steven Pivnik is a founder, exit advisor, keynote speaker, and author of Built to Finish. He built Binary Tree over 26 years — surviving two CEO betrayals and two near-bankruptcies — before achieving a successful eight-figure exit. At 40, he couldn’t run a mile. By 52, he’d completed the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona and recently climbed Mt. Everest. Steven now advises founders on exit readiness and speaks to audiences about what it really takes to go the distance.
Written Bio
Steven Pivnik is a first-generation American who immigrated from the former Soviet Union as a child. He founded Binary Tree, a global software company, and led it for 26 years through two near-bankruptcies and two CEO betrayals before achieving a successful exit.
At 40, Steven discovered endurance sports. Over the next decade, he completed multiple ultramarathons, summited mountains including Kilimanjaro and Rainier, climbed Everest, and crossed the finish line at the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, Hawaii — all while running his company.
Today, Steven advises founders preparing for exit through his firm, AIP Advisory. He is an Operating Partner with The CEO Project and with with Acresis, a transaction advisory firm that has guided over 30 exits representing over $1 billion in founder wealth.
Steven is the best selling author of Built to Finish: How to Go the Distance in Business and in Life and hosts the Built to Finish podcast.
Keynote Description
In Built to Finish, Steven Pivnik shares the unexpected parallels between building a company and competing in endurance events. He shares how both require more than grit alone.
Drawing from his 26-year entrepreneurial journey and his transformation from non-athlete to 17x IRONMAN finisher, Steven delivers practical frameworks for resilience, focus, and sustainable high performance. Audiences learn how to set audacious goals, build systems that support the long game, and lead with grace under pressure.
This keynote is ideal for leadership summits, founder retreats, sales kickoffs, and corporate events where your audience needs more than motivation — they need a plan.
