Kip Allen Frey

Kip Allen Frey is a venture capitalist and an adjunct professor at the Sanford School of Public Policy of Duke University. He served as President and CEO of several companies and has presided over company transactions that produced more than $1billion of value for investors.

Early life and career

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Southern California in 1981 and a Juris Doctor degree from Duke University in 1985. After receiving his degree, Frey worked as a lawyer in the area of intellectual property law for several years. He then took a position with Turner Broadcasting System in 1990. During his time with the company, he participated in the purchase of Castle Rock Entertainment, the creation of the Cartoon Network, and the building of the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

World Championship Wrestling

He served as Executive Vice President of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for a brief period of time in 1992. His significant contribution to the company was the institution of workrate bonuses to whichever wrestler he thought had gone above and beyond the call of duty in the past week instead of simply "phoning in" his performance in the ring. This was in sharp contrast to the more frugal approach of his successor, Bill Watts, who sought to cut back WCW's expenses during his year with the company. Frey was announced as Executive Vice President during the promotion's Clash of the Champions XVIII event. Immediately after being introduced, he made the announcement that Jesse Ventura had joined the company as a commentator.

Post-WCW life

Since his departure from the Turner organization, he has won a number of entrepreneurial awards for his business efforts. During the 1990s, Frey ran three start-up companies: Ventana Communications Group, Accipiter, and OpenSite Communications. Each was acquired at large multiples of the capital invested in them. One of his most notable success stories as a venture capitalist was helping to secure $24 million for OpenSite Technologies, a provider of online auction software (this is not to be confused with internet encyclopedia Open Site).

In 2001, Frey joined Intersouth Partners, one of the largest and most successful venture capital firms in the Southeast.

Frey has been a professor at Duke since 1996. He teaches courses on intellectual property policy at the university's Sanford School of Public Policy. He serves on several boards at the university as well as multiple non-profit and charitable boards.

In 2013, Frey became President and CEO of Dognition, a technology company focus around advancements in canine cognition founded by Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods.