John Kao

John Kao (born 1950) is an author and strategic advisor based in Connecticut.

An accomplished jazz pianist, he spent the summer of 1969 playing keyboards for Frank Zappa.

He has also held faculty appointments at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab, Yale College,[2] and the Naval Postgraduate School.

His advisory work for Senator Hillary Clinton, including his ideas on innovation and transformation, was described in The New York Times as "out of the box".

He also founded Kao Ventures, and San Francisco-based The Idea Factory, working with Internet-related startups.