LeadersConnect Presents Brandon McNaughton on The Challenge of Creativity

Session 2: The University of Michigan Comes to LeadersConnect, A Year of Connection Between Town and Gown Leaders

Almost everyone has had an idea they just couldn’t get out of their mind. Maybe it was an innovative new product, a better way to work, or even a creative way to make art or music. But what happens after the initial moment of inspiration? How do you know if your idea is worth pursuing? And if it is, where do you even begin?Join us at our next Leadersconnect breakfast as Brandon McNaughton explores these questions. Brandon pairs a PhD in applied physics from the University of Michigan with an insatiable curiosity and a refusal to quit—a combination that has fueled his passion for turning scientific breakthroughs into real-world impact.

He has started four companies, launched more than 20 products across multiple markets, and holds over 25 patents and patent applications. He brought this experience back to the University of Michigan, where he taught at the Center for Entrepreneurship and co-developed a first-of-its-kind entrepreneurship course. Brandon will offer a fascinating look at how ideas move from the university setting to the outside world, and share the principles that have allowed him to create futures that were once only imagined.

More About Brandon H. McNaughton, PhD

Brandon is a serial inventor and entrepreneur. He has started four companies, launched more than 20 products in multiple markets, and holds over 25 patents and patent applications. Across these ventures he has raised more than $50 million, one of the highest totals in Michigan life sciences.

His work has earned national recognition for creativity and market disruption, including a fifth-place ranking on Fast Company’s list of “Most Innovative Biotech Companies in the World,” “Technology Disruptor of the Year” from Advanced Therapies Week, and “Entrepreneur of the Year” from NEF.

He has also worked in venture capital and served on the University of Michigan faculty in Emergency Medicine and Biomedical Engineering, where he also co-developed a first-of-its-kind entrepreneurship course. He holds a PhD in applied physics from U-M and lives in the countryside south of Ann Arbor with his family.