Hap Klopp

 

Among his many exploits, after getting his M.B.A. from Stanford, Mr. Klopp was the founder of The North Face, where he served as President and CEO for 20 years. During that time The North Face was honored with many awards for being the best managed company in its industry, including being lauded by Business Week Magazine for providing one of the highest quality products of any company in the United States. Mr. Klopp led The North Face to its position as the largest and most successful company in its industry and one of the largest privately held companies in the San Francisco East Bay. 

After selling his highly successful company, he began an international management consulting firm, HK Consulting, with offices in Berkeley, CA and Tokyo, Japan. Simultaneously he has been an investor, advisor and Board Member for numerous entrepreneurial companies that utilize disruptive technologies to revolutionize established industries. These include Obscura Digital where he is Executive Chairman—a data visualization company which is changing the way people market and communicate. And, he is on the Board of Cocona/37.5 a nano-technology company that is using nano-scale particles to improve the functional performance of fabrics. 

Businessman, adventurer and executive, Hap Klopp has run numerous companies and spoken around the world on adventuring, leadership, entrepreneurship and the human side of management. Mr Klopp lectures at numerous Business Schools including Cal, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, and Hult University. He has also been highlighted on national television and in such publications as Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Inc. Magazine, Success, and San Francisco Focus Magazine. 

 

Hap Klopp has nurtured a number of entrepreneurs in the founding of their disruptive business models including Shawn Biega with his plant stem cell based skin care company, OJAS, Bradley Weisman with his (sports consulting company  and prior ventures) which deals with sports injuries, and Catalina Girald with her lingerie company Naja which employs single mothers

Along with his co-writer, Brian Tarcy, Klopp has written the highly acclaimed book on leadership and success called: "CONQUERING THE NORTH FACE—an adventure in leadership." And they have just released the book “ALMOST—12 electric months chasing a Silicon Valley dream” about failure in Silicon Valley. He combines all of this with his ongoing sporting and adventuring activities. 

To quote him, "Life is a series of linked recoveries, elegantly described in retrospect as a plan."