Carol Kraus Lauffer

Principal
Business Cluster Development
Palo Alto, CA

As Principal and owner of Business Cluster Development (BCD), Carol has helped communities, universities and corporations across the U.S. to plan and deploy successful strategies and programs that support entrepreneurship, create new businesses, move innovative products to market, and build strong ecosystems and clusters, resulting in economic diversification, job creation, technology commercialization, and economic growth. Carol has direct experience with a range of entrepreneurial support programs, including accelerators, incubators, coworking, maker spaces, and various hybrids.

Prior to joining BCD, Carol was Managing Director of Panasonic’s corporate, venture-backed incubator in Cupertino, California and a Principal in its $100 million venture fund. Then, as the Associate Director of the Software Development Forum (now, SV Forum) in San Jose, California, Carol planned workshops and events for software startups, connected entrepreneurs with investors, and built strategic partnerships with leading Silicon Valley technology companies.

Carol has more than 30 years of experience in economic development and management. She began her career at the University City Science Center in Philadelphia where she managed the Ben Franklin Partnership’s grant program for incubators and other small business assistance programs.

As a dedicated member of the industry, Carol has served on association boards, including the International Business Innovation Association (InBIA, formerly NBIA) and the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). She held the post of Chair of the Board of Directors of InBIA in 2010-11. Carol is a course instructor for both organizations’ certification programs, and a frequent speaker on best practices for business acceleration/incubation, entrepreneurial support organizations and targeting technology clusters for economic development.

In April 2015, InBIA honored Carol with the President’s Award for Lifetime Achievement, recognizing her significant contributions to the association and the industry. Carol earned a Master of City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania and a BA from Northwestern University.