Lives of Consequence
David A. Kaplan '83
Co-Founder and CEO, PureSolo Ltd. and Murge LLC
David Kaplan is co-founder and CEO of PureSolo Ltd. and Murge LLC, a global video collaboration platform in the Apple, Android and Amazon app stores. Created in 2007, PureSolo began as an online music-recording platform, working with clients and collaborators including Coca-Cola, Sony Pictures, The X-Factor, David Guetta, Lisa Stansfield and Mark Knopfler. With an evolving focus on mobile technology, PureSolo precipitated the video platform Murge, which emphasizes creativity, connection and collaboration among its users.
Prior to PureSolo, Kaplan was a partner at Goldman Sachs, where he spent 22 years serving in senior roles, managing various businesses. He began his career in the investment bank and financial services company’s Operations office before moving on to trading securities. After five years, he transferred to London to run the market making operation in Japanese equity-linked products. Travelling between Tokyo and London, he was responsible for overseeing trading, risk and strategy for international trading and was named Managing Director.
Later he was appointed Head of European Equities Trading, responsible for capital allocation to traders, client relationship management, proprietary trading, and strategy surrounding technological connectivity between trading and exchanges.
Kaplan was made a Goldman Sachs partner and then moved to the company’s Fixed Income Division where he built Equity Macro, a proprietary business within the FX Global team. He left Goldman Sachs to start work on PureSolo, though he remains an avid investor in entrepreneurs and small companies across the globe.
Kaplan earned a B.A. in psychology from Hobart College and today is a member of the President’s Leadership Council. As an alumnus, he has participated in the HWS “Behind the Scenes” event in New York, speaking with students about careers in media, and returned to campus as a judge for The Pitch Contest in 2018 and 2020.
A member of the NYC Development Council of the USA Soccer Federation, Kaplan has also served as Trustee for Priority Trust, an organization that provides physically disabled children and young people greater independence by funding mobility equipment and sharing experiences.