Alumni Profile - Jared Kleinstein, Class of 2005

 

By the DJDS Marketing Department

 

 

Dad. Entrepreneur. Sports enthusiast. Community builder.

 

These are just a few of the many words to describe dedicated Denver JDS alum and successful businessman, Jared Kleinstein. Whether he’s talking about his business acumen, college experiences, or the value of his many long-term friendships, Jared notes that Denver JDS “dramatically impacted who I became – who I am, and how I got here.” 

In a recent interview, Jared shared that the diverse and challenging courses at Denver JDS, as well as the relationships with his teachers and the school’s unique community environment, set him up to succeed beyond high school. “I learned how to be a good writer and an analytical, qualitative, and quantitative thinker. I was ready for classwork at the college level in part because of the systems and work ethic I learned at DJDS,” he said.

And succeed he has! After graduating from Denver JDS in 2005, Jared attended Washington University in St. Louis, where he graduated with a BSBA in Marketing/Entrepreneurship and a film minor in 2009. He lived in New York City for eight years, where he managed strategic partnerships at real estate leader StreetEasy (acquired by Zillow), and (in)famously started the worldwide phenomenon known as “Tebowing” in 2011. In 2014 he started working at Twitter, running sports partnerships and international strategy for Vine. He then moved home to Denver to start his own company, Fresh Tape Media. An initiative that started with Jared doing strategy and consulting on his own (in the back of a house with another Denver JDS alum roommate)  has grown to fourteen full-time employees, an office campus at 8th and Kalamath, hundreds of contractors around the United States and the launch of his latest company, Gondola. 

Jared believes that the school’s small class size helped him get comfortable with public speaking and leadership, things he might not have embraced so easily at a larger school. “Entrepreneurial spirit comes from the opportunities you get,” he said. “I was class president senior year, which probably wouldn’t have happened at a big public school. It taught me to advocate and lead, and I believe if you can lead a small group you can lead a bigger one.”

Importantly, Jared also notes that he made lifelong friendships at DJDS. “(My classmates) all keep in touch,” he said. “We go to each other for parenting advice and work on projects together, and now our spouses are friends as well. Our class is more like a family than friends.” 

Today, Jared serves on the Denver JDS Board of Trustees and looks forward to the day when his daughter, Ava, will be old enough to create her own experiences at the school. “I dream of her coming here because my experience was so great,” he said. 

We’re eager for that day as well, and grateful for Jared’s many contributions to our school community.