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A few words About Randall Kaplan

Randall Kaplan is a serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, executive coach, and host of the top-ranked business podcast In Search of Excellence.

ABOUT Randall Kaplan

A Serial entrepreneur
with a vision for excellence

Randall Kaplan is your host on In Search of Excellence, a top-ranked business podcast that goes inside the lives of extraordinary entrepreneurs, CEOs, investors, athletes, entertainers, and leaders to uncover what it really takes to achieve exceptional success.

He is also a co-founder of Akamai Technologies, an S&P 500 cybersecurity and cloud computing company with a market capitalization of approximately $16 billion; the founder and CEO of JUMP Investors, a venture capital firm and family office that has invested in more than 100 early-to-late-stage companies, including Google, Seagate, and Lyft; and the founder and CEO of Sandee, the world's leading beach discovery platform, featuring more than 100 categories of information on more than 80,000 beaches in 212 countries.

Randall has a passion for working with and mentoring talented, hungry entrepreneurs who have a great work ethic, want to create long-lasting companies, and have a deep desire to achieve excellence.

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Over the past 25 years, Randall has been an advisor to more than 60 companies, has served on the board of directors of many companies, and has mentored many hundreds of professionals, students, professional athletes and others.  Randall has been an active public speaker and has been a guest lecturer at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law, UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, USC’s Marshall School of Business, USC’s Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy, and Draper University.  In 2001, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented Randall with the Einstein Technology Medal on behalf of The Jerusalem Fund.  In 2006, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law presented Randall with the school’s first Distinguished Entrepreneur Award.

Randall also has a passion for helping others and is a devoted philanthropist.  He’s the founder of The Justice Ball, a charity concert he started in 1999 at age 27 that has raised more than $6 million for a non-profit public interest law firm that provides free legal services annually to more than 12,000 poor, sick, elderly, and homeless residents of Los Angeles County.  He is also the co-founder of The Imagine Ball, a charity concert that has raised over $1 million for Imagine LA, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending family homelessness in Los Angeles.  Randall also established the Julia Eder Dean’s Scholarship at the University of Michigan in honor of his grandmother - an all-expenses, all-tuition scholarship for a student who, like Randall’s grandmother, was raised in foster care.  More than 11 years after this student graduated from UM and subsequently earned a master’s degree, this student has become a member of Randall’s immediate family and is a social worker, motivational speaker, mother, wife, and homeowner.  In addition to this scholarship, Randall also endowed a permanent, full-tuition, need-based scholarship at the University of Michigan for students with an interest in pursuing a future career in business.  In addition, Randall serves on the board of directors of National Center for Victims of Crime, an organization dedicated to serving individuals, families, and communities harmed by crime.

Randall graduated from the University of Michigan with Highest Distinction and was only one of 10 students selected to Phi Beta Kappa in his junior year, and Randall also graduated from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law with honors.  Randall has served on the board of Northwestern Pritzker School of Law for 20 years, and previously served on the Dean’s Advisory Committee at the University of Michigan for 18 years.

When he’s not working, mentoring, or helping others, Randall loves to wakesurf, toss the football, play the drums, fly his drones, and most importantly spend time with family.  Randall lives in Los Angeles with his five amazing children and mischievous dog Karma.