Doron Kempel

Doron Kempel
Born (1963-07-29) 29 July 1963 (age 60)
Israel
NationalityAmerican, Israeli
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur, CEO

Doron Kempel (born 29 July 1963) is an Israeli-born American international technology innovator, serial entrepreneur and former deputy chief of Sayeret Matkal. He is founder and CEO of SimpliVity Corporation (sold to HPE in 2017 for an estimated $650M, plus approximately $50M in additions),[1] founder and CEO of Diligent Technologies (sold to IBM in 2008 for an estimated $200M)[2] and former vice president and General Manager at Dell EMC (EMC Corporation until 2001).[3] He is also founder and CEO of Bond (Our Bond), an AI powered, personal security company that offers 24/7 preventative personal security service to businesses, cities and individuals.[4]

Education

Kempel graduated from Harvard Business School with a Master of Business Administration (MBA). He also holds a law degree (LLM) and a philosophy degree (BA) from Tel Aviv University.[5] Kempel was also a member of Israel's national youth team-handball team.[6]

Military career

Kempel served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from 1981 through 1994. He was a member of Sayeret Matkal, a special forces unit of the IDF in which former Israeli Prime Ministers Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu served as officers, and rose to become its deputy chief.

He led dozens of covert special missions and was decorated the Chief Of Staff Decoration by then Chief of IDF Lt. General Ehud Barak, for remarkable courage, command and resourcefulness under fire. In 1992, while on leave, completing his law degree in Tel Aviv University, he was called to lead the planning and preparation of Operation Bramble Bush - the targeted elimination of Saddam Hussein, then President of Iraq. Kempel was designated to lead the mission in Iraq, but it was cancelled due to a tragic live fire accident during the final rehearsal for the mission causing the death of five Israeli soldiers and for which Kempel and his deputy stood trial.[6]

Kempel was offered to continue his service in the IDF. However, he chose to discontinue his service, applied and was accepted to Harvard Business School, thereby launching his business career.[6]

Business career

Before joining Dell EMC, Kempel was Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Imedia Corporation and also became a US citizen.[7] Imedia Corporation was acquired by Terayon Communications Systems.

Kempel initiated and became vice president and General Manager for the Media Solutions Group at EMC Corporation in 1998 and led that organization until 2001.[8]

In 2003, Kempel co-founded data-storage company Diligent Technologies with fellow entrepreneur Moshe Yanai.[9] Kempel led Diligent as Chairman & CEO. Yanai was an investor. In April 2008, IBM acquired Diligent Technologies[10] for an estimated $200M.[2] Kempel stayed with IBM for a period of 15 months in order to facilitate the integration of Diligent into IBM.

In August 2009, Kempel founded SimpliVity Corporation, which pioneered the introduction of HyperConverged, Cloud IT Infrastructure, combining server, storage and networking into one device in an all-in-one system.[11] In February 2017, HPE acquired SimpliVity for an estimated $650 million (including an additional approximately $50M program, for retention and incentives of SimpliVity employees).[1]

In May 2017, Kempel began developing Our Bond, a private security company and accompanying app designed to offer people personal security in situations where they feel unsafe, but are hesitant to contact the police. The app, video-calls a private security service that stay on the line until the person feels safe. Our Bond launched in the US in 2019.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b "HPE acquires SimpliVity for $650M in cash". TechCrunch. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  2. ^ a b "IBM acquires Diligent Technologies". Network World. 22 April 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  3. ^ "Doron Kempel: Executive Profile & Summary". Bloomberg. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  4. ^ "Periculus Announces Partnership with Bond, Adding Bond's Preventative Personal Security Services to its new Risk Concierge by Periculus App". PR Web. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Execution Machine: Doron Kempel's Six Keys To Getting Stuff Done". Forbes. 29 October 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  6. ^ a b c "The Tech Innovator Who Almost Killed Saddam Hussein". Forbes. 21 May 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  7. ^ "Simplifying the IT Process in Virtualized Environments". Virtualization Review. 1 January 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  8. ^ "Simplivity pulls in $18M to give your IT infrastructure a spring clean". Venture Beat. 20 August 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  9. ^ "12 Israelis making a mark on Boston's tech scene". Israel21c. 15 October 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  10. ^ "IBM Acquires Storage Company Diligent Technologies". IBM. 18 April 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  11. ^ "The CEO Of This Hot Enterprise Startup Once Tried To Kill Saddam Hussein". Business Insider. 19 November 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  12. ^ "This Ex-Israeli Commando Is Betting $16 Million Of His Own Money That People Will Use His App Rather Than Calling The Cops". Forbes. 19 November 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2020.