Startup Strategizing

• The foundational premise of the course is that a startup’s strategy is a theory about how a firm might profit by solving a valuable problem — which I call the Problem of Value (PoV). The PoV is one that has yet to be solved by the market or one that might be solved more effectively. It is tempting to believe that the PoV is always customer-focused (e.g., untapped customer needs). While there must be customers for whom the startup will create value (i.e., product-market fit), the PoV is often elsewhere, concealed in the industry (e.g., suppliers, complementors), technologies, or institutional environments (e.g., regulations, infrastructure). Identifying and solving the PoV determines how much value is created and how much of it can be captured by the startup. Thus, a well-developed startup strategy is a theory that identifies, defines, and argues for the existence of the PoV and develops a compelling logic underlying a set of actions that solve it. The startup’s strategy informs other critical questions, such as: How do you compete? Who should you choose as customers? What technology should you deploy?
• The course is offered in the Spring semester.

PhD Workshop on “Contributing” to the Management Literature

• What does it take to write a research paper that is published in one of the top management journals? Editors and reviewers at top journals seek papers that make important ‘contributions’ to the literature. But what is a contribution? How do you know when your paper is contributing? More importantly, how do you write your paper to make a contribution that editors and reviewers recognize such that they want to publish your paper? In this workshop, I seek to help you conceptualize, frame, and write your work in a manner that substantially increases your odds of being published in leading journals — by framing your research to articulate the contribution of your paper compellingly. On average, over 90 percent of submissions are rejected by top journals. You do not need to suffer ​— you can learn to do much better. You will enjoy a very successful research career if you can make your rejection rate 50 or, better yet, 25 percent. I believe that you can learn to do this. The goal of this workshop is to will discuss — and put into practice — a way of thinking about your research that will enhance your ability to write papers that make a “contribution.” 
• This three-day PhD seminar has been offered periodically. In the past, it has been hosted by schools such as the University of Zurich, LMU Munich, Technical University of Munich, ESSEC, Aalto University, and Rotterdam School of Management.

Prior teaching:

• Strategy (University of Wisconsin)
  
• PhD Seminar in Strategy (University of Wisconsin)
• Global Strategy (University of Michigan, Ross School of Business)