From Law School to Auto Leasing, Michael Kranitz is the Expert
What began in a basement ended in a multi-million dollar company, and we don’t mean the Wall Street Journal. Michael Kranitz, now CEO and president of Kaango, Inc, began his first legitimate business out of his basement.
“I was a lawyer at the time, and I had already written a book on bankruptcy,” Kranitz explained, referring to his A Basic Guide to Bankruptcy, a result of eleven years of practice as a corporate reorganization attorney.
“I wanted to write another book,” said Kranitz. “I had recently gotten ripped off on an auto lease, so I decided to write a book on leasing.” His guide, Look Before You Lease: Secrets to Smart Vehicle Leasing, made Kranitz a nationally recognized expert on auto leases.
“I wrote this book and then realized I needed the software.” Kranitz developed Lease Wizard, a software that delved further into the technicalities of auto leasing.
Simultaneously, Kranitz established a connection with the company that developed the packaging for the Lease Wizard software.
“I asked them who was in charge of their internet component,” said Kranitz, who volunteered to develop the job, taking a subsequent cut in salary. Kranitz was a partner at Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff law firm at the time, but left the company to develop Lease Source.
“I did start Lease Source in my basement,” Kranitz said. “I would work fourteen, fifteen, even sixteen hour days on it.”
“I built up $5000 in nine months,” said Kranitz, “but I realized I couldn’t work under these people and make this project successful.” Kranitz entered a promissory note to pay back all the money the company had invested in him to generate the program, and Lease Source split from the company.
“After I took over, I tripled it the following month, and doubled it the month after that,” said Kranitz. “[The former owners] didn’t understand that it takes years to craft the right business. It’s a very arduous process,” he explained.
In 1999, Kranitz sold a healthily operating Lease Source Online to Navidec, Inc, a Denver-based company focused on developing online solutions for the automotive industry. Kranitz became the vice president of a new venture at Navidec, Drive-off.com. In 2001, Drive-off and Lease Source were acquired by Microsoft and Ford.
“Hands down, I would not have gotten this far without the law degree,” said Kranitz. “When you practice bankruptcy, you get to see a lot of different facets of business, and you learn how to negotiate a contract, know when to give, and when not to give.”
“When I first applied I was actually rejected from Vanderbilt, so I called up the admissions office,” said Kranitz. “They told me I was competing with people from Harvard and Cornell.” Kranitz persisted, however. “I said, ‘You don’t just want smart lawyers, you want well-rounded lawyers’.” Because of Kranitz’s negotiating prowess, he gained admission to the University, later proving to be a distinguished asset.
While in law school at Vanderbilt, Kranitz always had his hands in a different business venture.
“I started a mini satirical newspaper, and I also wrote the school’s first yearbook.” Kranitz’s largest venture at Vanderbilt? Developing a career resource database on the University’s mainframe that aided students in job searches and resume critique.
Kranitz will still contend that his most beneficial extra-curricular was serving as president of the University of Florida’s Speech and Debate team.
“Without a question, having the ability to present to a group persuasively will translate into success, whether measured in dollars or intangible rewards,” Kranitz said.
“All of these extra-curricular activities are worth as much as academics because they’re real world training. The hands-on piece of learning is infinitely more important.”
Kranitz started his newest venture, Kaango, Inc, as an online platform that serves as an intermediary between newspapers, shoppers, and advertisers.
“Kaango is a holistic solution that helps move classified advertisements from print to web and web to print, but it’s also syndicated. Ads can appear on multiple newspapers at once.”
In 2007, Kaango was acquired by MediaNews Group and Hearst Corporation at a $20 million price tag.
“To be accredited, you need to become an expert,” Kranitz explained, “and you need to invest in yourself.”
Kranitz alluded to Richard Dawkins Climbing Mount Improbable to emphasize the mindset required of an entrepreneur.
“You see a man at the top of a mountain, and you think he was placed there, but when you walk to the side of the mountain, you see a slope and a series of steps. There’s no quick way to the top. There’s a gradual slope, and you’ve just gotta be patient.”
To view Kaango’s website, click here: http://www.kaango.com/
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