Founder
Harry R. Kaplan is an advisor, author, entrepreneur, framework-builder, and independent thinker focused on hidden value, mispriced risk, timing, and consequence.
He founded Patina Advisory to help clients see what sits beneath the surface — the risks, opportunities, timing gaps, incentives, and structural weaknesses that are often visible before they are widely understood.
Harry’s work is built around a disciplined search for asymmetry: where value is overlooked, risk is misunderstood, timing is misread, or consequence has not yet been priced in. His perspective has been shaped by decades of experience across banking, federal oversight, enterprise risk, governance, internal controls, private advisory, and entrepreneurship.
A Certified Public Accountant by training, Harry has held senior roles in finance and capital markets, mortgage and banking, federal accounting, audit, and risk management. His career has centered on helping people and organizations understand which risks matter, which do not, and when waiting is safer than acting.
He is also the author of It’s Not Karma, It’s Consequence Alignment, a strategic framework for conflict, timing, risk, authority, governance, and decision-making under pressure, and It’s Not Karma in the Real World, a companion work applying the framework to real-world examples across business, culture, sports, leadership, and everyday decision-making.
Across finance, business, writing, and culture, his work returns to the same principle:
The most important signals are often beneath the surface — before the crowd, before the price changes, and before consequence becomes obvious.
Founder Statement
As far back as I can remember, I have been pricing risk, evaluating processes, and looking for value before it was obvious.
That may sound like a professional discipline, but for me it started long before titles, credentials, or formal advisory work. I took jobs no one else wanted because I knew they would give me valuable experience. I sat in the front row of CPA review class because I wanted to be tested. I was drawn to musicians, movements, and cultural signals before they caught on.
I have always looked beneath the surface.
That instinct shows up everywhere in my life — in business, music, wine, whiskey, watches, cars, markets, and people. I notice asymmetry. I notice timing. I notice when perception and value do not yet match. This is not something I invented for Patina Advisory. It is who I am, and who I have always been.
I have also built five businesses: Twangri-La, Twangri-La Radio, Twangri-La Records, H Kaplan CPA, and Twangri-La Books. Some endured. Some served their purpose and ended when circumstances changed. Each one taught me something about risk, timing, judgment, creativity, and consequence.
Success is not measured only by revenue. Sometimes success is measured by what something teaches you, who it connects you with, what it allows you to build, or whether the work itself is rewarding. Dollars matter, but they are not the only form of return.
Patina Advisory comes from that same foundation.
It exists for people who value independent judgment, discretion, and the ability to see what others may miss — hidden risk, overlooked value, timing gaps, structural weakness, and opportunity beneath the surface.
I do not believe the surface tells the whole story.
I never have.
Books
I wrote these frameworks after thirty years of transactions, conflict, and professional judgment. They provide a disciplined model for pricing risk, evaluating position, and understanding consequence before acting. Originally written for private use, they serve as the foundation for Patina Advisory's worldview.
It's Not Karma, It's Consequence Alignment
A strategic framework for conflict, timing, risk, authority, and decision-making under pressure.
It's Not Karma in the Wild
25 case studies applying the framework to real situations across business, sports, and culture.
It's Not Karma — The Complete Hardback Edition
The comprehensive volume combining the framework and and the framework in motion.
Contact
I welcome your outreach if this line of thinking and worldview resonates with you. If you value independent judgment, clear thinking, discretion, and the ability to see beneath the surface, Patina Advisory may be the right fit.
Direct Outreach
Harry Kaplan, CPA
PHONE
(503) 739-4029
harrykaplan@patinafirm.com
I work with individuals, business owners, executives, and organizations that need guidance, support, and structure to think through complex decisions before consequence becomes obvious.