BOSTON—Thirteen entrepreneurs will serve the Harvard Business School (HBS) community this year as Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EiR). Sponsored by the School's Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, the Entrepreneur-in-Residence program, now in its sixth year, invites accomplished entrepreneurs to HBS to advise MBA students interested in starting companies and work with faculty on research and course development.
The thirteen entrepreneurs, ten of whom are HBS alumni, come from a variety of backgrounds, including venture capital, private equity, telecommunications and start-ups across several industries.
"Entrepreneurship is one of the hottest topics on the HBS campus," said Michael Roberts, Senior Lecturer and Executive Director of the Arthur Rock Center. "With their years of experience and extraordinary achievements, these entrepreneurs bring invaluable knowledge and insights to students who are eager to develop innovative products and services and create value for both the economy and society."
The 2011-2012 HBS Entrepreneurs-in-Residence are:
- Ash Ashutosh, a 25-year veteran of the data storage industry who was previously a partner at Greylock Partners and the chief technologist for Hewlitt-Packard's StorageWorks division. He cofounded and led AppIQ, a market leader of storage resource management solutions, acquired by Hewlitt-Packard in 2005.
- Jeffrey Bussgang (MBA '95), a second-year EiR and general partner at Flybridge Capital Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm, and cofounder of UPromise, a college savings service that relies on the purchasing power of parents, family, and students at thousands of participating retailers.
- Gary T. DiCamillo (MBA '75), managing director of Eaglepoint Advisors, a turnaround management and advisory firm for underperforming and distressed companies. Previously, he was chairman and CEO of the Polaroid Corporation and also served as president of worldwide power tools and accessories at Black & Decker Corporation.
- Jeffrey Glass (MBA '94), managing director at Bain Capital Ventures and cofounder and former president and CEO of m-Qube, Inc., a provider of mobile messaging services for entertainment, retail, telecommunications, and consumer packaged goods companies. m-Qube was acquired by VeriSign Inc. in 2006. This is his second year as an EiR.
- Terry D. Kramer (MBA '86), a 25-year veteran of the telecommunications industry, including 18 years with Vodafone Group Plc/AirTouch Communications in a variety of roles across the globe. His most recent role was Group Strategy and Business Improvement Director, where he focused on the transition of Vodafone's business from a voice to a data-based operation.
- Chris LaSala, director of mobile partnerships at Google, currently heads the company's mobile publisher business development efforts, where he works with established media brands as well as the emerging mobile applications developer community.
- Jim Matheson (MBA '01), general partner of Flagship Ventures, where he focuses on creating and funding new ventures in the sustainability and clean technology arenas. A former U.S. Navy fighter pilot, he has over 20 years of technology and leadership experience across a variety of organizations and roles designing, engineering, and deploying sophisticated technology platforms.
- Eric Paley (MBA '03), managing partner of Founder Collective, an early stage venture capital fund started by a team of entrepreneurs that launched companies and eventually led them through successful exits. Previously, he was the CEO and a cofounder of Brontes Technologies, which was acquired in 2006 by 3M.
- Eric Ries, a second-year EiR and creator of the Lean Startup methodology, author of the entrepreneurship blog "Startup Lessons Learned," and cofounder of virtual world IMVU, an online social entertainment destination. His new book, The Lean Startup, just debuted on the New York Times bestseller list.
- Diego Rodriguez (MBA '01), a partner at IDEO, a design firm that takes a human-centered, design-based approach to helping organizations in the public and private sectors innovate and grow. Prior to IDEO, he was a research and development engineer at Hewlitt-Packard and a marketer at Intuit.
- Norman C. Selby (MBA '78), senior advisor at Perseus, LLC, a private equity firm, where he led the company's strategy and investments in healthcare. His 30-year career includes consulting, managerial, investment, and board roles in a variety of healthcare industries.
- Lauri Union (MBA '92), managing director at White Oak Investment Partners. Previously, she was president and CEO of Union Corrugating Company, a family-run building products manufacturing company, for 14 years. She began her career as a consultant at Bain and Company, where she worked with numerous Fortune 500 companies.
- Gwill E. York (MBA '84), cofounder of Lighthouse Funds, where she is one of five managing partners who oversee the firm's investment and operating activities. She was previously a senior vice president with Comdisco Ventures, where she established, directed, and managed investment activities on the East Coast. Before that, she was a senior business analyst for Fidelity Investment Company.
All 13 entrepreneurs will serve for the entire academic year in a part-time capacity, meeting with students in group and one-on-one sessions and collaborating with various faculty members on cases, courses, and other activities.
Besides interacting with the Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, Harvard MBA students interested in entrepreneurship have the opportunity to work closely with HBS faculty members through field studies, independent research projects, a Silicon Valley Immersion Experience Program, and participation in the HBS Business Plan Contest. In addition, students have access to the new Harvard University Innovation Lab. All first-year MBA students also take the required course The Entrepreneurial Manager, as well as a new course called FIELD, whose third module will launch them to launch a new business. Second-year students can choose from more than two dozen entrepreneurship-related elective courses.
An estimated 50 percent of HBS alumni describe themselves as entrepreneurs 10 to 15 years after they graduate. Among the many alumni who have founded successful business ventures are Michael Bloomberg (MBA 1963), founder of Bloomberg L.P; Marc C. Cenedella, ( MBA 1998), founder, president and CEO of TheLadders.com Inc; Scott Cook (MBA 1976), chairman and cofounder of Intuit; Rajil Kapoor (MBA 1996), cofounder and former chairman and CEO of Snapfish; Mark Pincus (MBA 1993), founder and CEO of Zynga; Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilson, (both MBA 2004), cofounders of Gilt Groupe Inc; Marla Malcolm Beck (MBA 1998), founder of bluemercury; Tom Stemberg (MBA 1973), founder of Staples; and Jeremy Stoppelman (MBA 2005), CEO and cofounder of Yelp.
About The Rock Center:
The Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship was created through the generosity of prominent venture capitalist Arthur Rock (MBA '51), who donated $25 million to Harvard Business School to support the entrepreneurship faculty and their research, fellowships for MBA and doctoral students, symposia and conferences, and outreach efforts to extend the impact of the School's extensive work in this field. HBS offered the country's first business school course in entrepreneurship in 1947 and, today, entrepreneurship is one of the largest faculty units at the School, with over 30 faculty members conducting entrepreneurship research and teaching. The Rock Center works closely with the HBS California Research Center in Silicon Valley on entrepreneurship-related research and course development efforts.
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