Entrepreneur and former student athlete Chris Krause knows what it’s like to be shaped by the valuable life lessons youths can only learn by competing in sports at the highest level. Since he was in fifth grade, Krause had dreams of earning a college football scholarship after seeing a neighborhood role model of his earn a scholarship to the University of Illinois. From that point on, he made it a personal goal to continue his growth as a football player until he reached that level.
On his fourth-grade football team, his coaches took notice of his hard work, as he won his first accolade, the Most Improved Player award. He would add to his list of accolades after taking home Honorable Mention All-State, All-County, and All-Conference honors when he played for North Chicago High School. His efforts paid off by earning him a full football scholarship to Vanderbilt University, where he played as a linebacker and nose guard. However, something unusual during the recruitment process caught his attention.
“During my freshman year of high school, my team finished 9-0 and was filled with exceptional talent. Despite the ability and potential of many of my teammates, I was the only player from that group to receive a full football scholarship,” he recounted. “That experience shaped my understanding of how talented athletes can be overlooked when they lack visibility and access to recruiting opportunities.”
This initial interest developed into a genuine passion for addressing the gaps in information and communication during the recruiting process for college athletes. His passion for helping student athletes led to him founding NCSA (Next College Student Athlete), which eventually became the largest college recruiting platform, with over 50,000 coaches using the platform to find their athletic programs’ next star athlete.
Krause bootstrapped NCSA into a $50M company by 2012 and was able to retain complete ownership of the company without taking on any outside investors. He eventually brought on the merchant bank The Raine Group as a strategic partner in 2014 before selling them a majority stake in the company for $40M, and eventually teaming up with The Raine Group to sell most of the business to Endeavor/IMG in 2021 for $200M. The sale excluded RCX, NCSA’s camp and club division and the operator of NFL Flag football, which Krause continued to operate as a separate business. In 2026, RCX was acquired by Brand Velocity Group, led by Eli Manning, for more than $60M, marking his third exit.
As he built NCSA into a company worthy of a multi-million dollar sale, he developed the philosophy of “athleadership,” which he used to turn culture into one of NCSA’s greatest competitive advantages. NCSA hired primarily former college athletes who shared the company’s values, and the organization was built around seven core values: Team First, Education Always, All-In Attitude, All-Out Work Ethic, Make Your Mark, Lead by Example, and Give Back. Those values were reinforced through company traditions, including color-coded lanyards known as company “jerseys” that identified each employee’s team and years of service, cross-functional “Dream Team” accountability groups, and regular culture assessments. He describes the meaning of athleadership as “empowering leaders through the life lessons of sports.” Any athlete with a love for competition has encountered some of these life lessons, such as teamwork, accountability, perseverance, and learning from feedback.
Through his experiences in sports, mentorship, and business, Krause is acutely aware of these values’ importance for success not only in sports but in life. For this reason, he has incorporated these lessons into his work with Live. Learn. Lead. Academy, the leadership development program at his alma mater, Vanderbilt University. The university partnered with Krause to organize the first annual Chris Krause Leadership Symposium in 2026, which featured speakers such as the university’s chancellor, Daniel Diermeier, its head football coach, Clark Lea, and the head of its Center for Addiction Research, Erin Calipari.
Today, Krause serves as CEO of Krause Holdings, where he continues to invest in sports, tech, wellness, and real estate. He also serves on the board of Rate, advises Tactix AI and Alluvium Strategies, and is an investor in Victory Code and DOCS Surgical Hospital.
By using sports as a metaphor for life, Chris Krause has taught countless student athletes how to harness their strengths and to develop the mental discipline that leads to career success. His story demonstrates the positive impact sports can have on young people’s drive, ambition, and development. As Athleadership continues to evolve, Krause remains committed to proving that the qualities forged through competition can become the foundation for leadership in every arena of life.
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