Marc Kramer

Marc Kramer
Born	02/01/1961 Coatesville, PA
Alma mater	BS in Broadcast Journalism from West Virginia University and Master's in Management from Penn State University.

Marc Kramer is an American serial entrepreneur, business book author and journalist. He founded the country's first formally organized investor angel network, the Pennsylvania Private Investors Group, now called the Private Investors Forum, ^[1] and the country's first cyber bank insurance product for small businesses, Commercial Deposit Insurance. ^{[2] [3]} Marc is also founder of Dads & Daughters, a group that made sure that entrepreneurial fathers and their daughters got together every Saturday for uninterrupted time. ^[4]

Biography

Marc Kramer was born in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, to Robert Kramer, a small business owner, and Shelly Kramer, a fine China sales representative for Macy's Department Store. Kramer graduated from Coatesville High School in 1978. He attended and graduated from West Virginia University Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism in 1982 ^[5] and obtained a Master's in Management in 1991 from The Pennsylvania State University.

Career

Kramer started his career as sports writer for the Village News and the Coatesville Record. He left sports writing in 1983 and joined Berkheimer Associates to become a tax administrator. While working for Berkheimer Associates, Kramer started a part-time marketing business called Kramer Marketing. His firm client, the Downingtown Marketplace, hired Kramer to be assistant manager in 1984.

During his time at the Downingtown Marketplace, Kramer started the Downingtown Antique Hub, a small business center and a mirrored closet store business. Kramer left the Downingtown Marketing place in 1987 to become the first executive director of the Penn State Technology Development Center in Great Valley, Pa, which he grew from one company to 53 and lead the nation in minority startup companies.

In 1990, Kramer left the Penn State Technology ^[6] to start the Eastern Technology Council, which was the second largest technology council in the United States. During his time with ETC, he started the Pennsylvania Private Investors Group and a national newspaper, Technology Times.

Kramer started Kramer Communications, a marketing and new venture development consultancy in 1997. While running Kramer Communications, he started PA Artist Entrepreneur in 2003, ^[7] co-founded in 2003 with his then wife, Jacqueline Kramer, Expert Speakers, ^{[8] [9]} marketing business professionals to trade associations and corporations and was sold to Speaker Match in 2005, Prompt Payment, which provided reverse factoring service, in 2007, and Commercial Deposit Insurance, ^[10] which insures small business bank accounts against cyber theft of funds, in 2012.

Kramer is the executive director of the Angel Venture Fair, ^[11] which brings together entrepreneurs and investors from around the world, and formerly Executive-in-Residence at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Pa. ^[12]

Kramer is affiliated with the Business Administration program at VinUniversity in Vietnam. ^[13]

Marc launched a podcast in March 2020 featuring business book authors around the world, The Best Business Minds. This podcast won The Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts-2022 Communicator Awards Distinction Series-Business Podcasts, and has listeners in 77 countries. ^[14]

Patents

• AR/NOW, August 7, 2007

References

1. "The Difference Between Angel Investors Here and Out West". Philadelphia Business Journal.
2. "Philadelphia Business Journal-Marc Kramer Interview" (PDF). Philadelphia Business Journal. Archived from the original on 2014-01-08.
3. "New Insurance Offers Cyber Bank Theft Protection to Small Business" (PDF). The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2014-01-08.
4. "Play's The Thing For Daddies' Girls A Little Business And A Lot Of Bonding". Philly.com. Archived from the original on January 13, 2014.
5. "WVU Grad Helping Small Businesses Fend Off Cyber Attacks". WVU Alumni Magazine.
6. "PSU Incubator Lends Success To Business". The Daily Collegian. 30 November 1989.
7. "Web site aims to give artists lessons in business". USA Today.
8. "Web Site Gives Groups Chance To Find Speakers". Philadelphia Business Journal.
9. "Speakers Snaps Up Rival". Austin Business Journal.
10. "CDIA Fighting Cyber Crime at Small Companies". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
11. "Angel Fair brings 'Shark Tank' vibe to Philly start-ups". March 2017.
12. "The Initiative for Family Business & Entrepreneurship".
13. "Marc Kramer". VinUni. Retrieved 2025-08-08.
14. Nguyen, Zoey (May 28, 2024). "Experts: Vietnamese Government Provides Continuous Support for High-tech Companies". Vietnam Times. Retrieved 28 May 2024.