Gerd is the Founder and CEO of ThinkAndLink, a Basel (Switzerland) and San Francisco -based strategic advisory firm that works with innovative companies in the converging sectors of entertainment and technology. Gerd is also a widely-published and internationally-acclaimed digital media Futurist and expert, speaker and author. His recently published book "The Future of Music", co-written with Dave Kusek, is quickly becoming a 'must read' for music and entertainment business professionals around the globe (published by Berklee Press). During the dotcom 'fat years', Gerd served as Founder and CEO of LicenseMusic.com in San Francisco, and pioneered the use of technology in B2B media commerce. As a guitarist and composer, Gerd won the Quincy Jones Award (1986), and is a graduate of Boston's Berklee College of Music. Gerd also served as Co-Founder and Executive Producer of the pan-European talent event EuroPopDays, worked as Expert Adviser On The Cultural Industries to the European Commission in Brussels, is acting Chairman and Executive Producer of www.popkommawards.com, and consults many start-ups and fast-growth companies in the music and technology sectors, both inEurope as well as in the U.S. Gerd runs at popular blog at gerdleonhard.typepad.com.