Dr. Maxmin is co- author of The Support Economy: Why Corporations Are Failing Individuals And The Next Episode Of Capitalism (www.thesupporteconomy.com) with his wife, Shoshana Zuboff — the Charles Edward Wilson Professor at the Harvard Business School. He has been featured in newspapers, magazines, radio and TV, including Fast Company, Business Week, The Financial Times, and The Economist. He speaks at major conferences throughout the world. Drawing on his experiences as a CEO and turnaround specialist, he discusses the shift to a support economy and a new model of “distributed capitalismâ€?. He focuses on their implications for leadership, strategy, investment, governance and technology. Dr Maxmin and Professor Zuboff often do joint seminars and have held “conversationsâ€? about the support economy and the future of business with the boards and senior management of companies around the globe. Each session is tailored to the unique requirements of the audience.

Jim Maxmin was educated at Grinnell College, Cambridge University, and received his Ph.D. from King’s College, London. He started his career with Unilever PLC as a graduate trainee and worked in Lever Brothers Ltd. He joined Volvo UK as Marketing Director and become CEO and joint Chairman at age 34. He developed the UK into Volvo’s most profitable market in the world over a seven-year period. During that time he increased car sales by 800% from 7,000 to 62,000 annually. He joined Thorn EMI PLC as a main board Director. As the CEO and Chairman of Thorn Home Electronics International, he created a business with turnover of over $3bn and 35,000 employees worldwide. He became CEO of Laura Ashley PLC in 1991, successfully returning the company to profitability by 1994. At Laura Ashley, he launched a major strategic alliance with Federal Express that is the subject of six Harvard Business School case studies. He left Laura Ashley in 1994, due to disagreements with the Ashley family over strategy and investments. He then founded a private investment company that grew to twenty-four active investments. In1999, he became Advisory Director of the investment bank Mast Global Ltd.

Dr Maxmin is married to Shoshana Zuboff – author of In the Age of the Smart Machine and The Support Economy. He has six children. He and his family live in Maine on a freshwater farm, as well as in London.