Nathan L. Kaplan

Background

About Nathan L. Kaplan

TOP-MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT With a decade as a McKinsey consultant and an independent practice since 2019, I serve clients globally across sectors on their most strategic opportunities and critical challenges. My teams work with Fortune 500 leaders, family-owned businesses, foundations, Mittelständler, investors, and startups, helping generate billions in value through growth strategies and digital transformations. Grateful to apply McKinsey approaches in a fresh, direct way. As Founder & Principal of KaplanStrategy, I develop and deliver lean, fit-for-purpose projects with tailored, high-performance teams. I’m also active in two longer-term engagements: as Advisory Board Member of Flemings Group (family office, real estate, and hospitality), and as Chief Strategy Officer of Educating for Impact (nonprofit supporting the Jewish Communities of European capital cities). I have a passion for impactful storytelling and top-notch slide decks (first career wish: comic book creator), designed with my partner studio in India. FOUNDER & CEO My entrepreneurial streak started early: running the Internet department of a record company while in high school (studying for exams on a tour bus, bringing home Echo and MTV awards). In my first gap year, I joined the management of a new music label. At university, I co-founded a city guide and worked with one of LA’s top entertainment CEOs. As a McKinsey leader, I connected high-growth startups to leading global investors and built McKinsey Digital. As COO, I scaled Europe’s leading D2C, influencer-driven F&B startup (exited to a pharma group). A new father of 2, I was Founder & CEO of MitzveNow, Europe's first kosher holiday and lifecycle subscription box platform, now run by ZWST (Central Welfare Board of Jews in Germany). BUSINESS ETHICIST The grandson of Holocaust survivors and son of sociology professors, I grew up with a strong sense of how the world can go wrong and an obligation to make it right. My interest in philosophy was sparked at Goethe-Gymnasium Frankfurt (hello, cave simile) and nurtured at the London School of Economics, where I studied Philosophy & Economics (“something for the pocket, something for the mind”). At McKinsey, I launched an initiative on business ethics and developed the Ethics Radar with a global team. For my PhD studies in Heidelberg, I asked how the Torah is a source of ethical insight for contemporary management. I’ve published in this space and cherish bringing timeless wisdom to life, like Rava’s first Talmudic question in the hereafter: “Did you conduct your business faithfully?”