Winner of the 2024 Wharton People Analytics White Paper Competition for “The Uneven Impact of Generative AI on Entrepreneurial Performance” with Nicholas Otis, Rowan Clarke, Solène Delecourt, and David Holtz.
Rembrand M. Koning
Mary V. and Mark A. Stevens Associate Professor of Business Administration
Mary V. and Mark A. Stevens Associate Professor of Business Administration
Rem Koning is the Mary V. and Mark A. Stevens Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. His research explores how we can help more entrepreneurs, scientists, and innovators succeed. His work on entrepreneurship and innovation spans industries and regions, from Indian tech ventures to small business owners in Kenya to women’s and mental health startups in the US. Building on this work, he is the co-director and co-founder of the Tech for All lab at The Digital, Data, and Design (D^3) Institute at Harvard, where he leads a group of interdisciplinary researchers studying how entrepreneurs can accelerate and shift the rate and direction of science, technology, and artificial intelligence (AI) to benefit all of humanity.
A pioneer in the use of field experiments to study entrepreneurial strategy and innovation, Rem co-leads the Conference on Field Experiments in Strategy (CFXS), is an associate editor for Management Science, and is an invited researcher at J-PAL’s Science for Progress Initiative (SfPI). He has received generous research funding from the Kauffman and Sloan Foundations.
Rem teaches a new semester-length second-year elective course at HBS, Strategy for Entrepreneurs (SFE), that blends case discussion and hands-on exercises to help students discover and test startup ideas that the market has missed.
Entrepreneurial Management
Winner of the 2024 Distinguished Paper Award from the Strategic Management Division of the Academy of Management for “The Uneven Impact of Generative AI on Entrepreneurial Performance” with Nicholas Otis, Rowan Clarke, Solène Delecourt, and David Holtz.
Rem Koning is the Mary V. and Mark A. Stevens Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. His research explores how we can help more entrepreneurs, scientists, and innovators succeed. His work on entrepreneurship and innovation spans industries and regions, from Indian tech ventures to small business owners in Kenya to women’s and mental health startups in the US. Building on this work, he is the co-director and co-founder of the Tech for All lab at The Digital, Data, and Design (D^3) Institute at Harvard, where he leads a group of interdisciplinary researchers studying how entrepreneurs can accelerate and shift the rate and direction of science, technology, and artificial intelligence (AI) to benefit all of humanity.
A pioneer in the use of field experiments to study entrepreneurial strategy and innovation, Rem co-leads the Conference on Field Experiments in Strategy (CFXS), is an associate editor for Management Science, and is an invited researcher at J-PAL’s Science for Progress Initiative (SfPI). He has received generous research funding from the Kauffman and Sloan Foundations.
Rem teaches a new semester-length second-year elective course at HBS, Strategy for Entrepreneurs (SFE), that blends case discussion and hands-on exercises to help students discover and test startup ideas that the market has missed.
Rem earned degrees in mathematics and statistics from the University of Chicago and his Ph.D. at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he received a Kauffman Dissertation Fellowship. He teaches entrepreneurship, strategy, and general management to executives, MBA students, and scientists. His work has been published in Science, the Strategic Management Journal, Management Science, Research Policy, Organization Science, and the American Sociological Review. It has been covered by the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, STAT News, Nature, Vox, and the New York Times.
- Featured Work
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Tech for All LabThe Tech for All Lab at the D^3 Institute aims to promote accessibility. It will broaden the benefits of digital innovation to reach more emerging economies. By providing knowledge and tools across the stack, it will serve as a launchpad for start-ups and entrepreneurs, and help established companies and governments across the world to learn how to succeed in the digital age.
There is a growing belief that scalable and low-cost AI assistance can improve firm decision-making and economic performance. However, running a business involves a myriad of open-ended problems, making it hard to generalize from recent studies showing that generative AI improves performance on well-defined writing tasks. In our five-month field experiment with 640 Kenyan entrepreneurs, we assessed the impact of AI-generated advice on small business revenues and profits. Participants were randomly assigned to a control group that received a standard business guide or to a treatment group that received a GPT-4 powered AI business mentor via WhatsApp.
While we find no average treatment effect, this is because the causal effect of generative AI access varied with the baseline business performance of the entrepreneur: high performers benefited by just over 20% from AI advice, whereas low performers did roughly 10% worse with AI assistance. Exploratory analysis of the WhatsApp interaction logs shows that both groups sought the AI mentor’s advice, but that low performers did worse because they sought help on much more challenging business tasks. These findings highlight how the tasks selected by firms and entrepreneurs for AI assistance fundamentally shape who will benefit from generative AI.
Professor Koning's Chat GPT Integration
Using data from a prominent online platform for launching new digital products, we document that ‘sampling bias’—defined as the difference between a startup’s target customer base and the actual sample on which early ‘beta tests’ are conducted—has a systematic and persistent impact on the venture’s success. Specifically, we show that products with a female-focused target market launching on a typical day, when nine in ten users on this platform are men, experience 45% less growth a year after launch than those for whom the target market is more male-focused. By isolating exogenous variation in the composition of beta testers unrelated to the characteristics of launched products on that day, we find that on days when there are unexpectedly more women beta testers on the platform—reducing the amount of sampling bias for female-focused products—the gender-performance gap shrinks towards zero. Our results highlight how sampling bias can lead to fewer successfully commercialized innovations for consumers who are underrepresented among early users. - Publications
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- Black, Ines, Sharique Hasan, and Rembrand Koning. "Hunting for Talent: Firm-Driven Labor Market Search in the United States." SSRN Working Paper Series, No. 3576498, September 2021. View Details
- Cao, Ruiqing, Rembrand Koning, and Ramana Nanda. "Sampling Bias in Entrepreneurial Experiments." Management Science (forthcoming). (Pre-published online December 14, 2023.) View Details
- Wright, Nataliya Langburd, Rembrand Koning, and Tarun Khanna. "Judging Foreign Startups." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-097, March 2021. (Revised January 2023. Accepted at the Strategic Management Journal.) View Details
- Dimitriadis, Stefan, and Rembrand Koning. "Social Skills Improve Business Performance: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial with Entrepreneurs in Togo." Management Science 68, no. 12 (December 2022): 8635–8657. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, Sharique Hasan, and Aaron Chatterji. "Experimentation and Start-up Performance: Evidence from A/B Testing." Management Science 68, no. 9 (September 2022): 6434–6453. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, Sampsa Samila, and John-Paul Ferguson. "Who Do We Invent for? Patents by Women Focus More on Women's Health, but Few Women Get to Invent." Science 372, no. 6548 (June 18, 2021): 1345–1348. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, Sharique Hasan, and Aaron Chatterji. "Digital Experimentation and Startup Performance: Evidence from A/B Testing." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-018, August 2019. (Revised September 2020. SSRN Working Paper Series, No. 3440291, August 2019) View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, Sampsa Samila, and John-Paul Ferguson. "Inventor Gender and the Direction of Invention." AEA Papers and Proceedings 110 (May 2020): 250–254. View Details
- Hasan, Sharique, and Rembrand Koning. "Designing Social Networks: Joint Tasks and the Formation and Endurance of Network Ties." Art. 4. Journal of Organization Design 9 (2020). View Details
- Chatterji, Aaron, Solène Delecourt, Sharique Hasan, and Rembrand Koning. "When Does Advice Impact Startup Performance?" Strategic Management Journal 40, no. 3 (March 2019): 331–356. View Details
- Hasan, Sharique, and Rembrand Koning. "Prior Ties and the Limits of Peer Effects on Startup Team Performance." Strategic Management Journal 40, no. 9 (September 2019): 1394–1416. View Details
- Hasan, Sharique, and Rembrand Koning. "Conversations and Idea Generation: Evidence from a Field Experiment." Art. 103811. Research Policy 48, no. 9 (November 2019). View Details
- Ferguson, John-Paul, and Rembrand Koning. "Firm Turnover and the Return of Racial Establishment Segregation." American Sociological Review 83, no. 3 (June 2018): 445–474. View Details
- Hasan, Sharique, John-Paul Ferguson, and Rembrand Koning. "The Lives and Deaths of Jobs: Technical Interdependence and Survival in a Job Structure." Organization Science 26, no. 6 (November–December 2015): 1665–1681. View Details
- Working Papers
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- Cohen, Susan, and Rembrand Koning. "Advice and the Bayesian Entrepreneur." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 25-029, November 2024. View Details
- Otis, Nicholas G., Solène Delecourt, Katelynn Cranney, and Rembrand Koning. "Global Evidence on Gender Gaps and Generative AI." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 25-023, October 2024. View Details
- Bennett, Victor Manuel, John-Paul Ferguson, Masoomeh Kalantari, and Rembrand Koning. "Demographically Biased Technological Change." Working Paper, June 2024. View Details
- Otis, Nicholas G., Rowan Clarke, Solène Delecourt, David Holtz, and Rembrand Koning. "The Uneven Impact of Generative AI on Entrepreneurial Performance." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 24-042, December 2023. View Details
- Dimitiadis, Stefan, and Rembrand Koning. "Networking Frictions: Evidence from Entrepreneurial Networking Events in Lomé." Working Paper, February 2023. View Details
- Ferguson, John-Paul, and Rembrand Koning. "Industrial Change, the Boundary of the Firm, and Racial Employment Segregation." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-069, December 2019. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and John-Paul Ferguson. "Does Public Ownership and Accountability Increase Diversity? Evidence from IPOs." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-071, January 2019. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand. "Do Network Dynamics Undermine Idea-based Network Advantages? Experimental Results from an Entrepreneurship Bootcamp." Working Paper, August 2016. View Details
- Cases and Teaching Materials
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- Myers, Kyle R., Rembrand Koning, Solene Delecourt, Katelyn Cranney, Kris Gulati, and Scott Sawaya. "Managing Science: Perspectives from Postdocs." Harvard Business School Case 625-048, August 2024. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, Daniel W. Elfenbein, and Kanika Jain. "Chai Point." Harvard Business School Case 724-418, November 2023. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand. "Hey Jane: Early Investor Pitch Deck." Harvard Business School Supplement 724-409, October 2023. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, Geraldine Pena-Galea, and Sarah Mehta. "Hey Jane: Background on Abortion in the U.S." Harvard Business School Supplement 724-390, October 2023. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, Geraldine Pena-Galea, and Sarah Mehta. "Hey Jane: Delivering Abortion Pills to the Doorstep." Harvard Business School Case 724-408, October 2023. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand M., Jorge Tamayo, and Jenyfeer Martínez Buitrago. "Foodology: Creating a Virtual Restaurant Group in Latin America." Harvard Business School Case 724-392, October 2023. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and Alicia Dadlani. "Rheaply: Circularity For Every Business Supplement 1." Harvard Business School PowerPoint Supplement 724-354, October 2023. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and Alicia Dadlani. "Rheaply: Circularity For Every Business Supplement 2." Harvard Business School PowerPoint Supplement 724-385, October 2023. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and Alicia Dadlani. "Rheaply: Circularity For Every Business." Harvard Business School Case 724-351, October 2023. (Revised November 2023.) View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and Emer Moloney. "Single Earth: Science White Paper Supplement." Harvard Business School Supplement 723-389, October 2022. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and Emer Moloney. "Single.Earth." Harvard Business School Case 723-388, October 2022. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and Stacy Straaberg. "Ethena: Series A Pitch Deck Supplement 3." Harvard Business School Supplement 723-387, October 2022. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and Stacy Straaberg. "Ethena: Seed Pitch Deck Supplement 2." Harvard Business School Supplement 723-386, October 2022. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and Stacy Straaberg. "Ethena: Pre-Seed Pitch Deck Supplement 1." Harvard Business School Supplement 723-385, October 2022. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and Stacy Straaberg. "Ethena: A Go-to-Market Dilemma." Harvard Business School Case 723-363, October 2022. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and Alicia Dadlani. "Beam Dental (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 723-356, October 2022. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and Alicia Dadlani. "Beam Dental (A): Pitch Deck Supplement 2." Harvard Business School Supplement 723-375, October 2022. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and Alicia Dadlani. "Beam Dental (A): Pitch Deck Supplement 1." Harvard Business School Supplement 723-374, October 2022. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and Alicia Dadlani. "Beam Dental (A)." Harvard Business School Case 723-355, October 2022. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and Alicia Dadlani. "Framebridge (B): A New Approach." Harvard Business School Supplement 723-353, October 2022. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and Alicia Dadlani. "Framebridge (A): Pitch Deck Supplement." Harvard Business School Supplement 723-376, October 2022. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and Alicia Dadlani. "Framebridge (A): Reimagining Custom Framing." Harvard Business School Case 723-352, October 2022. (Revised November 2023.) View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and Kairavi Dey. "Proactive For Her Supplement II." Harvard Business School PowerPoint Supplement 723-381, October 2022. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and Kairavi Dey. "Proactive for Her Supplement I." Harvard Business School PowerPoint Supplement 723-380, October 2022. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and Nicole Keller. "Lyra Health: Transforming Mental Health." Harvard Business School Case 723-365, October 2022. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and Kairavi Dey. "Proactive for Her." Harvard Business School Case 723-351, September 2022. View Details
- Alcácer, Juan, Rembrand Koning, Annelena Lobb, and Kerry Herman. "VIA Science (C)." Harvard Business School Supplement 721-372, April 2021. View Details
- Alcácer, Juan, Rembrand Koning, Annelena Lobb, and Kerry Herman. "VIA Science (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 721-368, December 2020. View Details
- Alcácer, Juan, Rembrand Koning, Annelena Lobb, and Kerry Herman. "VIA Science (A)." Harvard Business School Case 721-367, December 2020. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, and Namrata Arora. "mPharma (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 722-453, March 2022. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand. "Thinx, Inc.—Breaking Barriers in Feminine Care." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 722-452, March 2022. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, Paul A. Gompers, and Sarah Gulick. "CashDrop (B1)." Harvard Business School Supplement 221-052, March 2021. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, Paul A. Gompers, and Sarah Gulick. "CashDrop (B2)." Harvard Business School Supplement 221-053, March 2021. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, Paul A. Gompers, and Sarah Gulick. "CashDrop (A)." Harvard Business School Case 221-051, March 2021. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, John D. Macomber, Pippa Tubman Armerding, and Wale Lawal. "mPharma (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 721-429, January 2021. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, John D. Macomber, Pippa Tubman Armerding, and Wale Lawal. "mPharma (A)." Harvard Business School Case 721-428, January 2021. View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, Elie Ofek, and Nicole Tempest Keller. "Thinx, Inc.—Breaking Barriers in Feminine Care (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 721-021, December 2020. (Revised March 2022.) View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, Andy Wu, Nataliya Langburd Wright, and Tarun Khanna. "MassChallenge." Harvard Business School Case 720-469, May 2020. (Revised July 2020.) View Details
- Collis, David J., Andy Wu, and Rembrand Koning. "Walmart Inc. Takes on Amazon.com." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 720-437, February 2020. View Details
- Collis, David, Andy Wu, Rembrand Koning, and Huaiyi CiCi Sun. "Walmart Inc. takes on Amazon.com." Harvard Business School Case 718-481, January 2018. (Revised October 2021.) View Details
- Koning, Rembrand, Elie Ofek, and Nicole Keller. "Thinx, Inc.—Breaking Barriers in Feminine Care." Harvard Business School Case 720-443, March 2020. (Revised November 2020.) View Details
- Koning, Rembrand. "Walmart's Online Challenge: Amazon.com." Harvard Business School Case 719-461, January 2019. View Details
- Cowgill, Bo, and Rembrand Koning. "Matching Markets for Googlers." Harvard Business School Case 718-487, March 2018. (Revised August 2018.) (More about Bo Cowgill.) View Details
- Research Summary
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Rembrand Koning is the Mary V. and Mark A. Stevens Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Strategy Unit at Harvard Business School. His research examines matching and selection frictions in firm growth and strategy, with an aim to help entrepreneurs and executives improve their odds of selecting scalable ideas, promising markets, and high-potential talent.
- Awards & Honors
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Winner of the 2024 Wharton People Analytics White Paper Competition for “The Uneven Impact of Generative AI on Entrepreneurial Performance” with Nicholas Otis, Rowan Clarke, Solène Delecourt, and David Holtz.Winner of the 2024 Distinguished Paper Award from the Strategic Management Division of the Academy of Management for “The Uneven Impact of Generative AI on Entrepreneurial Performance” with Nicholas Otis, Rowan Clarke, Solène Delecourt, and David Holtz.
- Additional Information
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Seminars and Interviews
- How can generative AI help entrepreneurs in developing countries?
- Similarweb: Market Research in the Digital Age
- What's Next for Innovation: Identifying Untapped Opportunities
- Sampling Bias in Entrepreneurial Experiments: Evidence from a Product Launch Platform
- CID Development Perspectives: AI and Firms
- Areas of Interest
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- diversity
- entrepreneurship
- experimentation
- innovation
- strategy
- biotechnology
- high technology
- software
- Africa
- India
- United States
IndustriesGeographies - In The News