David C. Krane took his journalism skills, his innate curiosity and the scientific influence of his nuclear physicist father and combined them into a career as a Google pioneer. Krane was part of Google’s senior leadership team in its early days as a start-up, serving as senior director of global communications and public affairs. He now is a general partner in Google Ventures, which invests in start-up technology companies.
Krane came to Bloomington from Portland, Ore., to study clarinet and saxophone in the Jacobs School of Music. But his intellectual curiosity compelled him to switch to journalism, where he specialized in broadcast and took classes in public relations.
After graduation, Krane moved to San Diego for a summer internship with marketing communications company Phillips-Ramsey/McCann Erickson Worldwide. He remained on the West Coast, working in a variety of communications positions that emphasized technology.
As circulation director at Tabor Griffin Communications in San Diego, he led the development of a prototype e-publication. In subsequent jobs, he taught himself to build websites and led high-tech PR campaigns for technology clients, at one point working with Yahoo and Apple. Before joining Google, he was senior director for global marketing communications and investor relations for Certicom, Inc., a security software company.
Krane joined Google in 2000. He was the “voice of Google,” serving as the company’s main media contact. He also created most of Google’s international offices, and hired, mentored and managed the majority of the employees there.
At Google Ventures, he has been responsible for investments in more than a dozen start-up technology companies.
Krane serves on the School of Informatics and Computing’s dean’s advisory board. He also is on the board of the Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Palo Alto, Calif., using his technical knowledge to advance access for people with visual impairments through Google.