Marquis Who’s Who Honors Karen Rands for Success in Entrepreneurship in the Venture Capital Sector
Ms. Rands’ expertise lies in creating wealth by building successful companies poised for lucrative exits and encouraging investment in promising ventures.
PEACHTREE CITY, GA, April 19, 2024 /24-7PressRelease/ — Karen Rands has been selected for inclusion in Marquis Who’s Who. As in all Marquis Who’s Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Ms. Rands is a distinguished figure in angel investing, venture capital and entrepreneurship. As the founder and president of Kugarand Capital Holdings since 2001, she has dedicated herself to empowering entrepreneurs with the knowledge necessary to grow their businesses and encouraging more individuals to invest in entrepreneurship. Ms. Rands’ expertise lies in creating wealth by building successful companies poised for lucrative exits and encouraging investment in promising ventures. She assisted numerous startups and growth stage companies as the finance director, business development manager, and investor relations manager. Her commitment to fostering economic growth is further exemplified by her advocacy for elevating investing in entrepreneurs as a way to bridge the wealth gap and create generational wealth, and as her role as a podcast host for The Compassionate Capitalist Show since 2009, where she shares insights on private equity investment and business development, and as the founder of the Compassionate Capitalist Movement since 2016.
A career trajectory marked by significant milestones has showcased her dedication to the financial sector, Ms. Rands has found success as the Managing Director of the National Network of Angel Investors since 2013, where she continues to influence the landscape of angel investing with her preeminent Compassionate Capitalist Wealth Maximizing System, an on-demand digital course and mastery program which starts with the Introduction to Angel / Crowdfund Investing. Her leadership was also instrumental at the Network of Business Angels & Investors (NBA&I) between 2004 and 2012 as a Managing Director she rebuilt the angel investor group to be one of the most active in the Southeast and recognized as the Best in Atlanta in 2009. During an earlier stage of her career, Ms. Rands honed her deal-making skills at IBM from 1987 to 2001.
As the Managing Director at NBA&I, Ms. Rands successfully coordinated the Southeast Private Equity & Capital Conference (SPEC) in 2008 and 2009, bringing together dozens of innovative companies with hundreds of potential investors. She has been a frequent speaker and mentor within numerous small business and economic development initiatives. Ms. Rands has also served as an investor panel and business plan judge at the Southern Interactive Entertainment and Game Expo since 2007 and as a business plan competition judge and mentor for TiE Atlanta business plan competitions in its TiE Young Entrepreneurs (TYE) and TiE Access – Women and Minority Entrepreneur-led companies since 2017.
A well-written, best-selling author, Ms. Rands published “Inside Secrets to Angel Investing: Step-by-Step Strategies to Leverage Private Equity Investment for Passive Wealth Creation” via Business Publications Press in 2017. She also released a free e-book series, “Learn to be an Angel Investor,” after interviewing hundreds of angel investors and venture capitalists. With an eye toward the future, Ms. Rands is working on her second book, “Inside Secrets to Scaling Your Business and Where to Get the Money to Do It.”
As part of her continued commitments to her community, Ms. Rands has been a volunteer usher at The Fox Theatre since 2021. Located in Atlanta, the theater hosts over 150 performances annually. Ms., Rands is an advocate for the arts and entertainment industry in Georgia and elevating the economic impact. She has been a lifelong champion of women’s rights and equality.
Ms. Rands pursued an education at Emory University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, with a minor in English in 1985. She subsequently garnered a Master of Business Administration with a focus on Marketing from the University of Florida in 1987. Ms. Rands also recently received a credential as a certified Women-Owned Small Business by the U.S. Federal government in 2024. She remains current in her industry as a member of TiE Atlanta, and frequent participant in business and investor events.
The perseverance and growth mindset instilled by her father, an inventor who found great success later in life, have been pivotal in shaping Ms. Rands’ approach to business and investment. As such, she was recognized with a Top 100 Global Leaders in Finance Award from the Global Conference on Insurance and Finance in 2021. Among other accolades, Ms. Rands received a Conscious Business Award and a Business Women Leadership Award in 2019, and was named the Advocate of the Year at the Flight to Freedom Summit by Blossom Wealth Management/Baker Botts in 2016.
About Marquis Who’s Who®:
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who’s Who in America®, Marquis Who’s Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Marquis celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2023, and Who’s Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis® publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who’s Who® website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.
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