Karl Kalcher
is the founding partner and Managing Director of MindFolio.
Prior to establishing MindFolio, Karl was a Senior Vice President with the LEGO Group, responsible for new leisure developments, retail and global licensing, managing a variety of businesses and innovation projects across Europe, USA and Asia. He led strategy, concept and design development and co-led construction and pre-op of two $500 million tourism projects that created LEGOLAND branded Family Parks – LEGOLAND Windsor and LEGOLAND California. Karl also masterminded the international retail strategy for the LEGO Group, the development of its pioneering computer games and a ‘Toy of the Year’.
Earlier in his career, Karl marketed a large fashion shop chain, introduced the Timberland brand into the UK and, after turning around a loss-making subsidiary, headed the European business of the leading international footwear brand, Clarks Shoes. Aged 36, he joined the board of the parent company, responsible for the over 3000 people employing Clarks Children Division, based in the UK.
Three years later he was appointed Group Managing Director of ‘ecco’ shoes, a uniquely innovative Danish company with current sales of $950 million and factories in Denmark, Portugal, Brazil, India and Indonesia.
Karl was born and educated in Austria, augmented by scholarships at TCU, Fort Worth, TX, the University of Illinois and more recently at INSEAD, Fontainebleau and IMD, Lausanne.
He serves on the Austrian government’s Advisory Board for innovation-based venture capital funding, and is a frequent speaker at conferences around the globe.
