There’s a particular kind of confidence that comes from building something from nothing, and Chris Krause has it. The Manhattan Beach entrepreneur, husband, and father of two has spent almost three decades turning the discipline he learned on a football field into a career that has included three major business exits, a growing investment portfolio, and an expanding role as a mentor and advisor.
Krause’s path started far from the Pacific coastline he now calls home. A former linebacker and nose guard at Vanderbilt University on a full football scholarship, he built his career around a simple observation from his own recruiting experience: many talented kids were overlooked because they lacked access or visibility. That insight became Next College Student Athlete (NCSA), the recruiting platform Krause founded and grew into the largest of its kind, eventually serving more than 30,000 student-athletes a year while connecting them with 42,000 college coaches across 31 sports.
Unlike many high-growth startups, NCSA wasn’t built with venture capital. Krause bootstrapped it to a $50 million company by 2012 without taking outside investment, all while retaining full ownership.
“I never needed to do any funding,” he says. “I backed myself—bootstrapped—to double down and put profits back into the company because I believed in what we were doing.”
That conviction eventually attracted merchant bank The RAINE Group, which became a strategic partner in 2014 after acquiring NCSA’s largest lead source. Krause sold a 60 percent stake for $40 million but remained the company’s second-largest shareholder and continued leading day-to-day operations.
The next milestone came in 2021, when Krause and Raine sold the majority of NCSA to Endeavor/IMG for $200 million. The deal didn’t include everything, though. RCX Sports, NCSA’s camp and club division and the operator of NFL FLAG football, stayed with Krause. He retained ownership and stayed on as a consultant, stepping back from day-to-day operations, until 2026, when it was acquired by NFL legend Eli Manning’s investment firm Brand Velocity Group for more than $60 million. It marked Krause’s third successful exit and a rare case of an entrepreneur successfully carving out and retaining a piece of a company he had already sold.
Building Beyond One Company
Selling NCSA didn’t mark the end of Krause’s operating career—it only broadened it.
Today he leads Krause Holdings, where he invests across sports, technology, wellness, and real estate while advising founders and leadership teams navigating their own growth. His current portfolio includes investments in Victory Code and DOCS Surgical Hospital, and he serves on the board of Rate while advising companies including Victory Code AI and Alluvium Strategies.
Rather than focusing on a single operating company, Krause now spends much of his time helping businesses scale, mentoring CEOs, evaluating new investment opportunities, and working alongside founders facing many of the same decisions he encountered while building NCSA.
Staying Connected to the Next Generation
Even as his focus has shifted toward investing and advising, education remains a significant part of Krause’s work.
One project close to his heart takes him back to Nashville. Krause partners with his alma mater, Vanderbilt University, as an advisor and adjunct professor within the school’s Live. Learn. Lead. Academy, a leadership development initiative designed to prepare students for careers after graduation. He works hand in hand with Dr. Jill Stratton, who leads the Academy on the ground at Vanderbilt, to support its goals and vision. That partnership expanded in 2026 with the inaugural Chris Krause Leadership Symposium, which brought together Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, head football coach Clark Lea, and Center for Addiction Research director Erin Calipari to discuss leadership from academic, athletic, and scientific perspectives.
Nearly three decades after launching NCSA, Krause’s work spans entrepreneurship, investing, advising, and education. While each chapter has looked different, they share a common thread: building organizations, supporting leaders, and creating opportunities that extend well beyond a single successful company.
