Barbara Krause—Pioneer and Co-Founder

What does a co-founder of KTA, someone named as one of Silicon Valley’s top influencers, do for fun? Why hop on a horse or wagon and ride portions of the California and Oregon pioneer trails for days at a time, stopping to dry strips of meat on the wagon frame and sleep in a porous canvas tent amid a field of cow pies.

All of which makes Barbara Krause most appreciative of what it takes to determine an objective, choose the best path and partners, and work intelligently and tirelessly to achieve an ultimate goal, avoiding what may be deadly pitfalls. The trip requires experience, commitment and the ability to adapt to rapidly changing conditions that may present an opportunity to succeed spectacularly – or fail dismally.

She’s also adept at keeping the bull pies out of the KTA tent.

Clients first notice that she listens closely, then determines and helps prioritize details of your objectives, and calmly outlines the direction that your company and KTA should take to achieve visibility and marketing objectives. As you answer her on-target questions (speaking of on-target, ask her about the ca.1850 percussion musket rifle), you will sense her complete attention to your mission, and clients repeatedly remark on how she and KTA’s senior staff can be so pleasant yet work intelligently, intensely and tirelessly to meet your goals.

Positioning one of the world’s most visible companies, helping to develop some of the most recognized technology brands, and working in the intense fluid atmosphere of state and local politics (public communications manager and speech writer for State Assembly members; Chief of Staff for San Jose Mayor Janet Gray Hayes) provide Barbara with analytical ability and practical experience unsurpassed in the tech PR industry. Her experience as a chief spokesperson, as well as an executive with marketing, branding and corporate communications responsibilities, give her a unique perspective into how corporate environments work and how to design public relations programs to mesh with those environments.

Once named one of “The 100 Most Powerful People in Silicon Valley” by the San Jose Mercury News, Barbara was included with such notables as Gordon Moore, David Packard, Bill Hambrecht and John Sculley. The article noted, “The perfect career path to a nervous breakdown: Janet Gray Hayes’ press secretary, then Atari PR, and now Apple. Yet Apple’s future ought to be as solid as this woman. A lot of folks think Krause is the best corporate flack in the Silicon Valley. They are right.”

A strenuous four-day hike to the sacred Huayna Picchu site at Macchu Piucchu forestalled the nervous breakdown, even after she was named Apple vice president of worldwide corporate communications in 1994, including responsibility for public relations, advertising, creative services, corporate branding, marketing communications (packaging and collateral) and employee communications.

Barbara and Betty Taylor founded Krause Taylor Associates in 1996: “We’ve tried to build KTA as the kind of firm we’d want if we were still in a client company ourselves.” The approach has well-suited our clients, as the firm has represented myriad established names such as Apple, Netscape, Palm, Micron and Borland, as well as start-ups like Aggregate Knowledge, Mirra, Six Apart, Loudcloud, Intershop, Omnisky, Presto and Kerbango.

Barbara has served on the board of United Way of Santa Clara County, and is active in environmental causes at Lake Tahoe. And, as noted above, she is a pioneer history buff. Much like Silicon Valley, that history is full of people seeking their fortunes in the West, only a very few of whom actually struck it rich after they carefully chose their partners, objectives and route, and prepared with the very best tools available to deal with the unexpected and reach their goal.

Minus the musket, KTA makes all those tools available to clients.

Betty Taylor—Chef and Co-Founder

Like any accomplished chef, Betty Taylor knows how to combine raw quality ingredients and prepare meals that exude promise, offer timely fulfillment, and leave diners looking forward to the next occasion. A true southern belle raised with love of tasteful cuisine, Betty’s repertoire ranges from the deft touch and sensitivity of a Mediterranean grande ricotta to the solid offering of delicious Kentucky fare.

It may be difficult to equate cooking prowess with public relations unless you watch as Betty combines a client’s new product and talented - but unseasoned - executives with her messaging expertise and near-infinite knowledge of media and analysts to produce a savvy recipe, leading to an exceptional main event, resulting in lasting positive impressions.

Betty began her communications career as a business journalist, swiftly moving into editorial roles before becoming an entrepreneur in her own right when she became a founding editor of Computer+Software News – one of the PC industry’s first weekly trade publications. After covering the business of technology for many years, she jumped from the frying pan into the fire, going to what her friends called “the dark side” when she joined Apple in 1989.

Much to her surprise, being the cook rather than the diner proved a challenge – a challenge readily met. After managing Apple product publicity, “Betty T” supervised corporate public relations and served as the company’s chief spokesperson, ultimately becoming director of worldwide corporate public relations.

Betty perfected her recipe for a launch with the global introductions of hundreds of Apple products. Dealing with earnings announcements, alliances, acquisitions, lawsuits and layoffs, she also honed her skill in development of strategic communications strategies, positioning and messaging. She says, “A good PR strategy must not deal only with the events that you know will happen, but also plan for the unexpected—and turn the unexpected to a positive whenever possible.”

After watching fellow Apple colleagues sample the entrepreneurial path into an exciting and vibrant Silicon Valley, Betty and Barbara Krause decided it was time to try their own venture. Krause Taylor Associates was launched in 1996 – out the gate with a stable of clients headed by ex-Apple executives.

Betty emphasizes the need for potential clients to meet the standards prerequisite to success with KTA.

“Quality ingredients, however unseasoned, are paramount. What’s common among KTA’s clients is a desire to build a long-term business, ground-breaking technologies and a strong foundation for their marketing and sales efforts. They’re building companies with long-term value.”

She has worked closely with some of the industry’s hottest young personal tech firms such as Sling Media, Aliph and Zing, unleashing her abilities to shape comprehensive launch plans, on-going programs to drive sales, and gaining access to key industry influencers.

Betty approaches her work with non-profits with the same enthusiasm and dedication she brings to KTA client. She has served on the board of directors of Cinequest—the San Jose film festival, Child Advocates of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, and the marketing committee for the Computer History Museum. She is also a long-time supporter of the San Francisco Opera.

A music aficionado whose taste runs the gamut, Betty is likely to be found listening to a new mix while bopping around San Pedro Square with a cheerful, cute and perpetually cold-nosed Tibetan Terrier-Shih Tzu mix named Michelango, the KTA Corporate Dog. Betty is proud to call Ohio University her alma mater but, with family ties to Kentucky, she’s also passionate about the UK Wildcats – and, dare we say, horse racing.

Not surprisingly, she also admits to watching Rachel Ray cooking programs while working on the elliptical trainer.

Our Green Team

Jennifer Henderson

Jennifer blends a dual degree in Environmental Studies and American Public Policy with practical application of that discipline with senior public relations experience. Prior to pursuing a career in communications, she worked with the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in Washington D.C. focusing on an amendment to the Clean Air Act and later spent several months with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco on issues related to the Clean Water Act.

Jennifer worked from 2002-2004 as a Senior Account Executive for Krause Taylor Associates, then moved to Sun Microsystems as Manager of Software Industry Analyst Relations. She returned to KTA in 2007 to accept a VP position with a solid background in industry analyst expertise to augment her proven PR abilities, which include (but are not limited to) innumerable product launches, strategic corporate messaging development and an abundance of reviews program experience for companies such as Aliph, Mailblocks, Scalix, Kontiki and Sling Media.

Tom Mertens

Tom, who has experience in analyzing and influencing government policy related to the Clean Water Act, brings 25 years of media expertise to KTA clients. He has worked extensively in electronic and print media and has developed or honed corporate messages for the annual Solar Home Tour of Northern California and for the non-food source biofuels company ClearFuels.

A long-time board member and communications committee chair of the non-profit League to Save Lake Tahoe (“Keep Tahoe Blue”), the award-winning writer has worked closely with scientists investigating eutrophication and other watershed issues. He has lectured on the subject of nitrogen and phosphorus input into Lake Tahoe, and was involved in the banning on Lake Tahoe of two-stroke jet skis proven to have a detrimental effect on water quality. He is chairman of the Tahoe Baikal Institute, a scientific exchange program between the U.S. and Russia, and most recently was a presenter at a conference of environmental non-government organizations in Ulan Ude, Russia in late 2007.

Our Complete Team

We hold the belief that a team with a full-range of experience in all aspects of PR is critical to our clients success. Our team has worked in and around PR as journalists, corporate officers and brand managers. This broad-based approach to staffing is what gives us our unique KTA advantage.