I am a Professor of Management Science & Engineering at Stanford University, Co-Director for International Entrepreneurship at the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), and the W.M. Keck Foundation Faculty Scholar.
My research examines how institutional environments, industrial policy, export controls, and platform design shape entrepreneurial outcomes. Recent and ongoing work spans US export controls and the global reallocation of venture capital, the effects of the Inflation Reduction Act on cleantech entrepreneurship, China's industrial subsidies and prefecture-level entrepreneurship, the algorithmic financing of online misinformation (published in Nature), and a long-running collaboration with Bill Miller estimating the global economic impact of Stanford alumni-founded companies. My methods range from quasi-experimental causal inference to LLM-based text analysis of regulatory and policy corpora.
Through STVP's global programs I have taught and run field research across six continents, reaching more than 200,000 students. I teach MS&E 272 (Entrepreneurship Without Borders, co-taught with Vimbayi Kajese) and MS&E 379 (a PhD-level course on causal inference), and serve as faculty advisor to BASES, Stanford's largest entrepreneurship student organization.
Beyond Stanford, I am an independent non-executive director and Remuneration Committee chair at Vobile Group (HKEX: 3738), a Venture Partner and LP at Brave Capital, and an active angel investor. I co-founded NovoEd (acquired by Devonshire Investors/Fidelity) and co-founded the Zhou & Eesley Family Foundation with my wife Lijie Zhou, supporting computer science training, entrepreneurship training, and mission-related investments for underserved communities globally.
PhD, Management
MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, MA
BS, Neuroscience
Duke University, Durham, NC
Professor of Management Science & Engineering
Stanford UniversityTenured faculty member at Stanford School of Engineering. W.M. Keck Foundation Faculty Scholar. Co-Director for International Entrepreneurship at the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP). Faculty advisor to BASES.
Independent Non-Executive Director, Remuneration Committee Chair
Vobile Group (HKEX: 3738)Independent board director at a Hong Kong-listed technology company specializing in digital content protection and monetization.
Venture Partner & LP
Brave CapitalVenture partner and limited partner. Active angel investor across approximately two dozen early-stage technology companies.
Co-Founder
Zhou & Eesley Family FoundationCo-founded with Lijie Zhou. Supports computer science training, entrepreneurship training, and mission-related investments for underserved communities globally. Foundation site.
Co-Founder
NovoEd (acquired by Devonshire Investors / Fidelity)Co-founded the online learning platform spun out of Stanford research, later acquired by Devonshire Investors, the private equity arm of Fidelity.
- National Academies, GUIPRR Workshop — Washington, DC (April 2026)
- Nanyang Technological University — Singapore (January 2026)
- UNLV Troesh Research Conference (2026)
- Aramco Lab7 Corporate Innovation Program — multi-session keynote series
- Entrepreneurship & innovation
- Institutional environments
- Industrial policy
- Export controls
- Venture capital
- Platform design
- Causal inference
- LLM-based text analysis
- US-China comparative analysis
- Higher education & entrepreneurship