21. Hip-Hop Mogul Russell Simmons Hijacks the Mainstage at LinkedIn's Sales Summit, with Justin Shriber

When Justin Shriber was the Vice President of Marketing for LinkedIn Sales and Marketing Solutions, he was charged with emceeing the social media juggernaut's Sales Leaders Summit mainstage. And with hip-hop legend and business magnate Russell Simmons lined up to serve as headliner, the hall was packed with people eager to hear Simmons's stories from the early days of hip-hop and his entrepreneurial awakening. Instead, what they got was a strange tirade from an uncooperative guest in front of an increasingly uncomfortable live audience, made even stranger by the fact that, within a few months, Russell Simmons would flee the country to escape criminal prosecution for a string of assault charges. These days, Justin is the Chief Marketing Officer at People.ai, an AI automation sales and CRM solutions provider. But in this episode, he looks back on this morality tale about the dangers of influencer marketing, relives the longest 45 minutes of his career, and recounts the lessons that he learned about planning a live event and relying on an unreliable celebrity. You can watch Justin's on-stage dance with Shaq right here. These two YouTube Videos were instrumental in researching this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices