Business Strategist and Advisor

Reza Ghiabi is a business strategist and advisor with more than fifteen years of experience in organizational strategy advisory. His career allowed him to work with an array of small to large enterprises and work on various projects in business development, sustainable business model designs, crisis response, corporate fundraising, branding, stakeholder management, and growth hack.

Since the beginning of Iran's startup ecosystem and the government's emphasis on a knowledge-based economy, Ghiabi became one of the key tech startup advisors and influencers based on his knowledge to analyze newborn economic phenomenons. He has worked with Iran's most prominent tech startups and the Middle East, whether creating their strategic roadmap or fundraising. He also advises Iran's regulatory organizations in IT & High Tech. Ghiabi earned his Masters in Management, Technology, and Entrepreneurship from EPFL university in Switzerland. He also has an MBA in Information Technology from the Industrial Management Institute of Iran an Industrial Engineering Bachelor's Degree from Azad University. He has been graduated from the Idea-to-Market Entrepreneurship program of Standford University.

In 2014 the Ghiabi's Boutique Consulting firm changed its name to "Oppmakr Institute" to move toward his vision of opportunity making on an organizational level. As a part of the company, this direction enabled Reza to work side by side with leading organizations like Butane Industrial Group, Saman Bank, Bahman Motors, Omidyar Network, UNDP, and many more. Ghiabi bases his professional views on Opportunity Making philosophy and digital transformation structure to help organizations prepare for future challenges and develop their markets. Ghiabi was an advisor to large organizations like Digikala, Snapp, Careem, Zitel, MAX Holding, Post Bank of Iran, Pardis Tech Park, Science, and Technology Vice-Presidency. As a turning point in his career, In 2017, Ghiabi transformed the Oppmakr Institute into a think tank to be a platform for entrepreneurs and decision-makers to connect and create effective commercial ventures.

Ghiabi believes in creating positive change through culture development education and sparking curiosity. That is why he started organizing TEDxTehran as the primary licensee in 2014. Supporting the mission of Ideas Worth Spreading, TEDxTehran initiatives are local, independently organized series of events that bring thought leaders, innovators, and doers, from across different disciplines to share their ideas and stories in the heart of Tehran. Ghiabi also gave speeches at the Sharif and Amirkabir universities classrooms and education centers like Industrial Management Institute. He also writes for credible managerial and innovation journals. His articles on Tadbir magazine and Eghtesadnews and his Persian translations of books like "Opportunity Makers" and "Your Choice" are samples of his writings. He is a member of the HUS institute —a Lichtenstein-based think tank in Europe that works on the digital economy. Ghiabi has a successful history of community building for innovation in Iran. He has been chosen as the Deputy of Stages committee for the INOTEX exhibition by Pardis Tech Park.