How He Went From Fired Lawyer To Tech Legend
From No Vacancy with Taylor Avakian by Taylor Avakian | Los Angeles Multifamily Broker
April 29, 2026 · 1h 14m
About this episode
Randall Kaplan shares his journey from a failed lawyer to co-founding a $35 billion tech company in this insightful interview.
Randall Kaplan, Co-Founder of Akamai Technologies, shares his extraordinary journey from failed lawyer to building a $35 billion unicorn company in this powerful No Vacancy Podcast interview with commercial real estate broker Taylor Avakian.From writing 300 personalized cold letters to land a dream job with Eli Broad at SunAmerica, to co-founding Akamai during the dot-com era, navigating massive success and setbacks, mentoring with Sam Zell, and lessons on extreme preparation, relationship building, and giving back — this is a masterclass in grit, opportunity, and long-term thinking.Chapters: 00:00 Intro & Welcome 01:15 The 300 Letters Campaign That Changed Everything 04:46 Landing the Job with Eli Broad at SunAmerica 11:45 Lessons from Working with Eli Broad & the AIG Sale 16:31 The Akamai Story: From MIT to $35 Billion Valuation 24:22 Meeting & Friendship with Sam Zell 31:18 Starting "In Search of Excellence" Podcast & Giving Back 33:18 Building Authentic Relationships (Not Transactional) 44:49 Real Estate Investing: LP to GP Lessons & Challenges 51:47 Advice for Young People & Where Opportunity Lies Today 1:01:52 How to Dominate as a Real…
People in this episode
Host: Taylor Avakian
Guest: Randall Kaplan
Topics covered
- entrepreneurship
- career advice
- real estate investing
- success mindset
- cold outreach
- mentorship
Keywords
- Akamai
- real estate
- career transition
- dot com bubble
- mentorship
- success stories
Sponsors
Loan Titan
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Akamai Technologies, SunAmerica
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