Speaking with Tom Kozacinski

Say what everyone
is thinking.

If the plan makes no sense, another meeting won’t fix it. I teach teams how to challenge the idea, explain why and decide what to do next.

I’ve spent two decades in design and business. Stand-up taught me how to tell when I’ve lost the room.

Tom speaking on stage, smiling with a microphone in hand. — Tom Kozacinski on stage.

When to book me

What happens in
your meetings?

I work with teams who recognise one of these moments.

01

The pitch goes nowhere.

Ten slides in, nobody knows what decision you need. We practise putting the ask first.

02

Nobody objects.

Someone sees the flaw and saves it for the corridor. We work on raising it while the decision is still open.

03

Another feature lands.

The roadmap gets longer. The customer’s problem stays put. I show teams how to question the request.

Which one would your team recognise?

Why I teach this

I’ve had to make
the call.

As a founder and product leader, I’ve had to decide what to build and explain that decision to the people doing the work.

I’ve spent two decades in design and business, including more than a decade in the Toptal network. At Techstars, I’ve helped founders think through their own decisions.

So when I talk about challenging a brief, I can speak for both people at the table.

Tom presenting to a seated audience at Google Dev Fest Siberia. — Google Dev Fest Siberia · Different rooms. Different questions.

Lessons from stand-up

Silence is feedback.

Tom performing stand-up at Lisinski, with the audience in the foreground. — Stand-up at Lisinski · Attention is earned, moment by moment.

On a comedy stage, you know exactly how funny the last line was.

In a company presentation, people are polite. They’ll nod long after they’ve lost the thread.

I teach speakers to spot that moment, cut the explanation short and ask a question the room can answer.

You learn a lot when you stop talking.

Selected keynotes

Pick the question
your team faces.

These are talks I give. Here’s when I’d book each one.

01

Being Funny for Money

For people who know their subject and lose the audience halfway through.

Learn where to start a story, what to cut and when to let a point land.

02

UX Has Become Too Polite to Be Useful

For product teams who see the flaw but keep it out of the meeting.

Practise saying what doesn’t make sense while the roadmap can still change.

03

Developers without designers are building a catastrophe

For teams that start coding before they know what the customer needs.

Learn when to bring design into the decision and what to test before committing engineering time.

Communication workshop

Funny
Business.

Bring a presentation your team actually has to give.

We use the material you brought. You deliver a short version, hear what landed and have another go.

Choose the one thing the audience needs to remember.
Tell the story of the project in your own words.
Ask a listener to repeat the point. Fix what got lost.

The second attempt is where the workshop earns its keep.

Tom teaching a seated group and gesturing as they listen. — Room to practise, ask questions and try again.

Product & design workshops

Who asked for
this feature?

Bring a request from your roadmap. We’ll examine what would justify building it.

01 / Product thinking

Test the request.

Who needs this? What are they doing today? What would improve for them if we built it?

We leave with an assumption to test and a way to tell whether the idea helps.

02 / UX Boot Camp

Find out before you build.

Walk through research, prototyping and testing with a decision your team faces.

Founders and managers learn where a designer can help and what evidence to ask for before committing engineering time.

One-to-one leadership coaching

Bring me the
hard decision.

Two teams are counting on the same people. You can back one priority. What do you tell the other team?

I coach leaders and managers one to one. Bring a live decision, who it affects and what you’ve already promised.

I’ll question your assumptions, tell you where my experience applies and help you weigh the trade-offs.

We rehearse the conversation you need to have with your team.

Tom listening across a table to a dark-haired woman seen from behind.

Speaking & professional work

Stages I’ve
spoken on.

I’ve spoken at Apple Developer Academy, Google Dev Fest Siberia, TEDx Zagreb and UX South Africa. Each room needs a different opening question.

Selected speaking appearances

Professional work & mentoring

My professional work includes UNICEF and the Toptal network. I’ve also mentored founders with Techstars.

Tom on stage behind the TEDx Zagreb stage lettering. — On stage at TEDx Zagreb

How we work together

Give me
the brief.

Before I write the talk, I want to hear what’s happening at work.

01

Tell me what’s happening.

Tell me who’s coming, what’s getting in their way and what you’d like them to try afterwards.

02

Choose what belongs in the room.

We choose the subject and exercises. If we need the team’s perspective, I ask for questions in advance.

03

Check what landed.

After the session, we compare notes. What landed? What still needs work? That tells us whether a follow-up would help.

Choose a format

What do you need
people to do?

Ways to work together
Format	A good fit for	What we focus on
Keynote	Give a whole company or offsite group a common starting point.	I tell the story and give the room a question to take back to work.
Workshop	Help a team practise something they need to do.	Participants present, challenge a brief or test an idea. They get feedback and try again.
1:1 coaching	A manager facing a difficult team decision.	We weigh the options and agree what to try first.

Once we know the brief, I’ll send a proposal with timing, preparation and fees.

Booking enquiries

Tell me who’s
in the room.

Send me the occasion, who’s coming and one thing you want them to do differently afterwards. I’ll tell you which session I’d suggest and why.

Tell me about your event

Tom Kozacinski
London-based. Working internationally.

kozacinski.com/contact Connect on LinkedIn ↗

Say what everyoneis thinking.

What happens inyour meetings?