John Kao is a leading expert on innovation. He taught a popular course on the subject at the Harvard Business School for fourteen years, has also served as a visiting professor at the MIT Media Lab, and as Distinguished Visiting Professor of Innovation at the
U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. In addition, he is the founder of Kao & Company, which advises top-tier Fortune 500 business leaders as well as government leaders around the world. He has specialized in instructing organizations in the methods for making innovation happen. Dubbed Mr. Creativity by
The Economist, he has started several companies, in areas as diverse as biotech and innovation management, and he is also a Tony-nominated executive producer of theater and film, including
Sex, Lies, and Videotape. He is also an accomplished jazz musician and lives in San Francisco, California.
