# Curriculum Vitae **Christian Catalini** ## Founder, MIT Cryptoeconomics Lab. Co-Founder, Lightspark. - - - ## Extended Bio Christian Catalini is the Founder of the MIT Cryptoeconomics Lab and a Research Scientist at MIT. He is also a Co-Founder of Lightspark, where he served as Chief Strategy Officer and oversaw the finance, data science, business development, corporate development, and strategic partnerships teams. Christian is also a contributor at Forbes, where he writes on the economic and strategic implications of AI, digital assets, and financial infrastructure. Previously, he was a co-creator of Diem (formerly Libra), Chief Economist of the Diem Association, and Head Economist of Meta's FinTech division. While a Professor at MIT, he designed the MIT Digital Currency Research Study which gave access to Bitcoin to every MIT undergraduate in 2014. Through his work on Libra and Diem, Christian engaged extensively with regulators around the world, including the Federal Reserve Board, U.S. Treasury, SEC, OCC, CFTC, ECB, Bank of England, FINMA, BaFin, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. In 2023, he was appointed to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Technology Advisory Committee, and from 2021 to 2023 he served on the Bank of England's CBDC Engagement Forum. He is also an advisor to Coinbase, Skyfire, and the Better Money Company, and an independent board member at Hivemind Capital. Christian's academic research at MIT focuses on the economics of AI and AGI, digital assets, stablecoins, blockchain, and cryptocurrencies. His earlier work examined the economics of equity crowdfunding and startup growth, as well as the economics of scientific collaboration. He holds a PhD from the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management and an MSc (summa cum laude) in Economics and Management of New Technologies from Bocconi University in Milan. In 2018, he was appointed a Faculty Research Fellow in the Productivity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). His research has been featured in Nature, Science, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, WIRED, NPR, Forbes, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, the Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, VICE News, and The Washington Post, among others. He has presented his work at Harvard, MIT, Yale, London Business School, NYU, UC Berkeley, and Stanford, as well as at the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Treasury, the SEC, the CFTC, the World Bank, the IMF, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and numerous central banks and regulatory bodies. ## Current Roles - Founder and Research Scientist, **MIT Cryptoeconomics Lab** (since 2017) - Co-Founder and Advisor to the CEO, **Lightspark** (since 2026) - Independent Board Member, **Hivemind** (since 2023) - Advisor, **Coinbase** (since 2022) - Contributor, **Forbes** (since 2017) - Advisor, **Skyfire** (since 2025) - Advisor, **Polarity** (since 2024) - Associate, **Creative Destruction Lab** (since 2018) ## Past Roles - Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, **Lightspark** (2022 to 2026) - Led the Finance, AI and Data Science, Business Development and Sales, Corporate Development, and Strategic Partnerships teams. - Technology Advisory Committee Member, **U.S. CFTC** (2023 to 2025) - Co-Creator and Chief Economist, **Libra / Diem** (2018 to 2022) - Head Economist, **Meta** (2018 to 2022) - **Massachusetts Institute of Technology** - **Theodore T. Miller Professor** (2017 to 2021) - **Associate Professor** of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management (2018 to 2021) - **Fred Kayne Professor** of Entrepreneurship (2014 to 2017) - **Assistant Professor** of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management (2013 to 2018) - Advisor, **Algorand** (2017 to 2025) - Advisor, **Chainlink** (2021 to 2025) - Advisor, **Delphia** (2014 to 2025) - Member, CBDC Engagement Forum, **Bank of England** (2021 to 2023) - Faculty Research Fellow, **National Bureau of Economic Research** (2018 to 2023) - Faculty, **The Next 36** (2013 to 2017) - **Creative Destruction Lab** - Associate Director, Creative Destruction Lab (2012 to 2013) - Advisory Board (2013 to 2018) - Chief Scientist, **Brainmaven Research** (2011 to 2012) - PhD Candidate, **Rotman School of Management** (2007 to 2013) - Research Scientist, **Bocconi University** (2006 to 2007) ## Education - June 2013 — **PhD in Strategic Management**, University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management, Toronto, ON. - Fall 2009 – Spring 2010 — **Visiting scholar at Harvard**, Institute for Quantitative Social Sciences, Cambridge, MA. - July 2006 — **Master of Science (summa cum laude)** in Economics and Management of International Markets and New Technologies, Bocconi University, Milan. - Fall 2005 — **Visiting student** at Stockholm School of Economics. Ranked first in the Bocconi MSc exchange students selection. - July 2004 — **Bachelor of Economics (summa cum laude)** of International Markets and New Technologies, Bocconi University, Milan. ## Selected Publications 1. "The Digital Privacy Paradox and Choice Architecture: Evidence from an Experiment in Fintech", with Susan Athey, Alex Moehring, and Catherine Tucker, ***[MIS Quarterly](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2916489)***, 2026. 2. "Syndication in equity crowdfunding: Performance and the evaluation of experts", with Xiang Hui, ***[Research Policy](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733325001192)***, 2025. 3. "Proximate (Co-)Working: Knowledge Spillovers and Social Interactions", with Alex Oettl and Maria Roche, ***[Management Science](https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/entrepreneurs-co-working-in-close-proximity-impacts-on-technology-adoption-and-startup-performance-outcomes)***, 2024. 4. "Disclosure Rules and Declared Essential Patents", with Rudi Bekkers, Arianna Martinelli, Cesare Righi and Tim Simcoe, ***[Research Policy](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004873332200141X)***, 2022. 5. "Some Simple Economics of the Blockchain", with Joshua Gans, ***[Communications of the ACM](https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3359552)***, 2020. 6. "How Do Travel Costs Shape Collaboration?", with Christian Fons-Rosen and Patrick Gaule, ***[Management Science](https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/10.1287/mnsc.2019.3381)***, 2020. 7. "Slack Time and Innovation", with Ajay Agrawal, Avi Goldfarb and Hong Luo, ***[Organization Science](https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/pdf/10.1287/orsc.2018.1215)***, 2018, 29(6):1056-1073. 8. "Microgeography and the Direction of Innovative Activity", ***[Management Science](http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/pdf/10.1287/mnsc.2017.2798)***, 2017, 10.1287/mnsc.2017.2798. 9. "When Early Adopters Don't Adopt.", with Catherine Tucker, ***[Science](http://www.catalini.com/earlyadopters)***, 2017, Vol. 357, Issue 6347, pp. 135-136, 10.1126/science.aal4476. 10. "Crowdfunding: Geography, Social Networks, and the Timing of Investment Decisions" with Ajay Agrawal and Avi Goldfarb, ***[Journal of Economics & Management Strategy](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jems.12093/epdf)***, 2015, Vol. 24, Number 2, pp. 253-274. 11. "The Incidence and Role of Negative Citations in Science", with Nico Lacetera and Alex Oettl, ***[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences](http://www.pnas.org/content/112/45/13823.full.pdf)***, 2015, 112 (45), 13823-13826, 10.1073/pnas.1502280112. 12. "Tracing the linkages between science and technology: An exploratory analysis of the research networks among scientists and inventors", with Stefano Breschi, ***[Research Policy](http://www.catalini.com/s/Tracing-the-links-between-science-and-technology.pdf)***, 2010, Volume 39, Issue 1, pp. 14-26. ## Stablecoins, Crypto, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Assets and CBDC Papers and Articles 13. ***["What Stablecoin Regulation Means for Business"](https://sloanreview.mit.edu/issue/2026-winter/)***, **MIT Sloan Management Review**, (forthcoming) 2025. 14. ***["The Unwitting Kingmaker: Why Washington's GENIUS Act could accidentally crown a stablecoin superpower and how to stop it"](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/532383d3e4b00a718e33e1da/t/68d6b40d427beb04125c26e5/1758901261405/1-The-Unwitting-Kingmaker-Why-Washingtons-GENIUS-Act-Could-Accidentally-Crown-a-Stablecoin-Superpower-and-How-to-Stop-It-Christian-Catalini.pdf)***, **Competition Policy International**, 2025. 15. ***["Does Bitcoin Belong on Your Balance Sheet?"](https://hbr.org/2025/09/does-bitcoin-belong-on-your-balance-sheet)***, **Harvard Business Review**, 2025. 16. ***["What Gets Measured, AI Will Automate."](https://hbr.org/2025/06/what-gets-measured-ai-will-automate)***, with Jane Wu and Kevin Zhang, **Harvard Business Review**, 2025. 17. ***["Stripe's Tempo And The Ghost Of Facebook's Libra's Past"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/christiancatalini/2025/09/05/stripes-tempo-and-the-ghost-of-facebooks-libras-past/)***, **Forbes**, 2025. 18. ***["Economists Are Still Puzzled By Bitcoin. Should Anyone Be?"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/christiancatalini/2025/08/20/economists-are-still-puzzled-by-bitcoin-should-anyone-be/)***, **Forbes**, 2025. 19. ***["Stripe Is Building A Blockchain: Can Openness Survive Branded Rails?"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/christiancatalini/2025/08/11/stripe-is-building-a-blockchain-can-openness-survive-branded-rails/)***, **Forbes**, 2025. 20. ***["How Will Stablecoins Integrate with the Financial System?"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep71787)***, **Centre for International Governance Innovation**, 2025. 21. ***["What Everyone Gets Wrong About Crypto Adoption"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2025/05/01/what-everyone-gets-wrong-about-crypto-adoption/)***, **Forbes** (also published by **a16z Crypto**), 2025. 22. ***["The Stablecoin Wars"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/christiancatalini/2025/04/29/the-stablecoin-wars/)***, **Forbes**, 2025. 23. ***["Should the United States implement a Bitcoin strategic reserve?"](https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/bitcoin-strategic-reserve/)***, **a16z Crypto**, 2025. 24. ***["Bitcoin Reserves Won't Secure America's Future, Only A Platform Play Will"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/christiancatalini/2025/02/06/bitcoin-reserves-wont-secure-americas-future-only-a-platform-play-will/)***, **Forbes**, 2025. 25. ***["Trump's Strategic Bitcoin Reserve: Balancing Crypto And Dollar Dominance"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/christiancatalini/2025/03/06/trumps-bitcoin-move-how-the-strategic-reserve-balances-crypto-and-dollar-dominance/)***, **Forbes**, 2025. 26. ***["With Dollar Hegemony At Risk, Could This Be Crypto's Moment?"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/christiancatalini/2025/04/11/with-dollar-hegemony-at-risk-could-this-be-cryptos-moment/)***, **Forbes**, 2025. 27. ***["The Race to Dominate Stablecoins"](https://hbr.org/2024/08/the-race-to-dominate-stablecoins)***, with Jane Wu, **Harvard Business Review**, 2024. 28. ***["The Internet Of Money Wants To Be Free"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/christiancatalini/2025/01/16/the-internet-of-money-wants-to-be-free/)***, **Forbes**, 2024. 29. ***["Can Crypto's Scarcity Tame AI's Infinite Abundance?"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/christiancatalini/2024/12/19/can-cryptos-scarcity-tame-ais-infinite-abundance/)***, **Forbes**, 2024. 30. ***["Decentralizing AI: Big Dreams, Bigger Hype?"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/christiancatalini/2024/11/26/ai-and-crypto-part-i-decentralizing-ai-big-dreams-bigger-hype/)***, **Forbes**, 2024. 31. ***["Why Everyone Is Wrong About Stablecoins"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/christiancatalini/2024/11/01/why-everyone-is-wrong-about-stablecoins/)***, **Forbes**, 2024. 32. ***["Crypto Policy Needs to Empower Builders, Not Speculators"](https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/crypto-regulation-us-election-trump-bitcoin-boosterism-gives-harris-an-opening-by-christian-catalini-1-et-al-2024-09)***, **Project Syndicate**, 2024. 33. ***["Forget Antitrust, Regulate to Let tech Disrupt Itself"](https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/forget-antitrust-regulate-to-let-tech-disrupt-itself/)***, **Forbes** (also published by **a16z Crypto**), 2024. 34. ***["Are Stablecoin Winner-Take-All?"](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/532383d3e4b00a718e33e1da/t/669569734a11ca28fb2da635/1721067892253/2-ARE+STABLECOINS-WINNER-TAKE-ALL-Christian-Catalini-Jai-Massari.pdf)***, with Jai Massari, **Competition Policy International**, 2024. 35. ***["Is Crypto's Killer App Finally Here?"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/christiancatalini/2024/02/19/is-cryptos-killer-app-finally-here/)***, **Forbes**, 2024. 36. ***["How The SEC's Attack On NFTs Harms Creators"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/08/29/how-the-secs-attack-on-nfts-harms-creators/)***, **Forbes**, 2024. 37. ***["Why Big Tech Can't Solve The Content Moderation Problem"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/08/28/why-big-tech-cant-solve-the-content-moderation-problem/)***, **Forbes**, 2024. 38. ***["Do Crypto Prices Actually Mean Anything?"](https://hbr.org/2023/01/do-crypto-prices-actually-mean-anything)***, with Jane Wu, **Harvard Business Review**, 2023. 39. ***["Can Web3 Bring Back Competition to Digital Platforms?"](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/532383d3e4b00a718e33e1da/t/62267f131e1e910dd9ef1552/1646690071283/Can+Web3+Bring+Back+Competition+to+Digital+Platforms.pdf)***, with Scott Kominers, **Competition Policy International**, 2022. 40. ***["How Digital Currencies Can Help Small Businesses"](https://hbr.org/2022/05/how-digital-currencies-can-help-small-businesses)***, with Shai Bernstein, **Harvard Business Review**, 2022. 41. ***["Markets for Crypto Tokens, and Security under Proof of Stake"](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3740654)***, with Scott Kominers and Ravi Jagadeesan, 2021. 42. ***["Some Simple Economics of Stablecoins"](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3985699)***, **Annual Review of Financial Economics**, with Alonso de Gortari and Nihar Shah, 2021. 43. ***["On the Economic Design of Stablecoins"](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3899499)***, with Alonso de Gortari, 2021. 44. ***["Stablecoins and the Future of Money"](https://hbr.org/2021/08/stablecoins-and-the-future-of-money)***, **Harvard Business Review**, with Jai Massari, August 10th, 2021. 45. ***["Setting Standards for Stablecoin Reserves"](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3970885)***, with Nihar Shah, 2021. 46. ***["From Stablecoins to CBDCs: The Public Benefits of a Public-Private Partnership"](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3986192)***, with Wanyi Dai Li, Alonso de Gortari, and Andrew Lilley, 2021. 47. ***["Why is the United States Lagging Behind in Payments?"](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3893937)***, with Andrew Lilley, 2021. 48. ***["DeFi, Disintermediation, and the Regulatory Path Ahead"](https://www.theregreview.org/2021/05/10/massari-catalini-defi-disintermediation-regulatory-path-ahead/)***, **The Regulatory Review**, with Jai Massari, 2021. 49. ***["It's time to knock down the walled gardens of the payments system"](https://www.americanbanker.com/opinion/its-time-to-knock-down-the-walled-gardens-of-the-payments-system)***, **American Banker**, with Scott Kominers, 2021. 50. ***["Bitcoin and Beyond"](https://www.project-syndicate.org/onpoint/bitcoin-and-new-digital-ledger-applications-by-christian-catalini-et-al-2021-04?barrier=accesspaylog)***, **Project Syndicate**, with Scott Kominers, 2021. 51. ***["Facebook will be unable to control Libra"](https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-facebook-will-be-unable-to-control-libra-1001303874)***, **Globes**, with Scott Kominers, 2019. 52. ***["Market Design for a Blockchain-Based Financial System"](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3396834)***, with Scott Kominers and Ravi Jagadeesan, 2019. 53. "The Libra Blockchain", with Amsden et al., ***[The Libra Association](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/532383d3e4b00a718e33e1da/t/5d5fef082bb4550001a469bc/1566568211198/the-libra-blockchain.pdf)***, 2019. 54. "The Libra Reserve", with Oliver Gratry, J. Mark Hou, Sunita Parasuraman, and Nils Wernerfelt, ***[The Libra Association](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/532383d3e4b00a718e33e1da/t/5d5fef54b9fcb100010b92bd/1566568276762/TheLibraReserve_en_US_Rev0814.pdf)***, 2019. 55. "Moving Towards Permissionless Consensus", with Shehar Bano, George Danezis, Nick Doudchenko, Ben Maurer, Alberto Sonnino, and Nils Wernerfelt, ***[The Libra Association](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/532383d3e4b00a718e33e1da/t/5d5fefc2d7c1240001fa00e5/1566568386697/MovingTowardPermissionlessConsensus_en_US_Rev0814.pdf)***, 2019. 56. ***["Why Blockchain Can Be Good For Competition"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/christiancatalini/2017/10/30/why-blockchain-can-be-good-for-competition/)***, **Forbes**, 2017. ## Working Papers 57. ***["Passive Versus Active Growth: Evidence from Founder Choices and Venture Capital Investment"](https://www.nber.org/papers/w26073)***, with Jorge Guzman and Scott Stern, 2019. 58. ***["Blockchain Technology and Organization Science: Decentralization Theatre or Novel Organizational Form?"](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/532383d3e4b00a718e33e1da/t/61e6c72eb5768855d626cd09/1642514224861/OS+Blockchain+Perspective+FINAL.pdf)***, with Jordan Boslego, 2018. 59. ***["Initial Coin Offerings and the Value of Crypto Tokens"](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3137213)***, with Joshua Gans, 2018. 60. ***["Technological Opportunity, Bubbles and Innovation: The Dynamics of Initial Coin Offerings"](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ijjxudhb9rep37szkkeg9/SEC-May.pdf?rlkey=vtiv11dzc3w3plx51g2iuqzki&st=eezqvigr&dl=0)***, with Jordan Boslego and Kevin Zhang, 2018. ## Other Publications 61. "Washington's New Stablecoin Law Has a 19th-Century Flaw", ***[Lightspark Blog](https://www.lightspark.com/news/insights/washingtons-new-stablecoin-law)***, 2025. 62. "Can Crypto Go Mainstream Without Losing Its Soul?", ***[Lightspark Blog](https://www.lightspark.com/news/insights/can-crypto-go-mainstream-without-losing-its-soul)***, 2025. 63. "The Hidden Breakthrough Behind Bitcoin", ***[Lightspark Blog](https://www.lightspark.com/news/insights/the-hidden-breakthrough-behind-bitcoin)***, 2023. 64. "Antitrust and Costless Verification: An Optimistic and a Pessimistic View of Blockchain Technology", with Catherine Tucker, ***[Antitrust Law Journal](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3199453)***, 2019. 65. "What Blockchain Can't Do", with Catherine Tucker, ***[Harvard Business Review](https://hbr.org/2018/06/what-blockchain-cant-do)***, June 28th, 2018. 66. "Blockchain Technology for Healthcare: Facilitating the Transition to Patient-Driven Interoperability", with William J. Gordon, ***[Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S200103701830028X)***, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csbj.2018.06.003, 2018. 67. "Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrencies: Implications for the Digital Economy, Cybersecurity and Government", ***[Georgetown Journal of International Affairs](http://press.georgetown.edu/book/georgetown/georgetown-journal-international-affairs-16)***, Vol 19, 10.1353/gia.2018.0005, 2018. 68. "How Blockchain Applications Will Move Beyond Finance", ***[Harvard Business Review](https://hbr.org/2017/03/how-blockchain-applications-will-move-beyond-finance)***, March 2nd, 2017. 69. "Seeing Beyond the Blockchain Hype". ***[Sloan Management Review](https://t.co/JUlpb18tSG)***, March 27th, 2017. 70. "How Blockchain Technology Will Impact the Digital Economy", ***[Oxford Business Law Blog](https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/business-law-blog/blog/2017/04/how-blockchain-technology-will-impact-digital-economy)***, April 24th, 2017. 71. "The Firm as a Nexus of Smart Contracts?", ***[Yale Journal on Regulation, Notice & Comment Blog](http://yalejreg.com/nc/the-firm-as-a-nexus-of-smart-contracts-how-blockchain-and-cryptocurrencies-can-transform-the-digital-economy-by-christian-catalini/)***, June 7th, 2017. 72. "Are Syndicates the Killer App of Equity Crowdfunding?", with Ajay Agrawal and Avi Goldfarb. ***[California Management Review](http://www.catalini.com/s/Are-Syndicates-the-Killer-App-of-Equity-Crowdfunding.pdf)***, Volume 58, Issue 2, Winter, 2016. 73. "Can Equity Crowdfunding Democratize Access to Capital and Investment Opportunities?", with Catherine Fazio and Fiona Murray. MIT Innovation Initiative, ***[MIT Policy Report](http://www.catalini.com/s/MIT_-Equity-Crowdfunding_Policy-Brief5162016.pdf)***, 2016. 74. "Some Simple Economics of Crowdfunding", with Ajay Agrawal and Avi Goldfarb, ***[IPE, University of Chicago Press](http://www.catalini.com/s/Some-Simple-Economics-of-Crowdfunding-dtyx.pdf)***, Vol. 14.1: 63-97, 2014. ## Conference Proceedings - *"Digital Ledger Technology: How Blockchain Is Changing Organizations and Markets."* Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings, 2018, volume 2018, issue 1, page 1 - *"Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in Strategy Research".* Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings, 2018, volume 2018, issue 1, page 1 ## Presentations (Last Updated: 2018) ### "Technological Opportunity, Bubbles and Innovation: The Dynamics of Initial Coin Offerings" 1. Academy of Management Meetings, Chicago, 2018 2. 40th Annual ISMS Marketing Science Conference, Philadelphia, June 2018 3. Healthcare Blockchain Platform Summit, Boston, June 2018 4. MIT Sloan Reunion Weekend, MIT, June 2018 5. MIT Latin America Conference, Chile & Argentina, May 2018 6. MIT Innovation Node, Hong Kong, May 2018 7. Harvard Business School, April 2018 8. Wharton Reg@Tech, The Wharton School, March 2018 9. Organization Science Winter Conference, March 2018 10. University of Minnesota, March 2018 11. MIT Bitcoin Expo, March 2018 12. Federal Bureau of Investigation, March 2018 13. Library of Congress, Washington DC, February 2018 14. MIT Media Lab, MIT, February 2018 15. Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), MIT, February 2018 ### "The Digital Privacy Paradox: Small Money, Small Costs, Small Talk" 16. Federal Trade Commission, PrivacyCon 2018, February 2018 17. Digital Innovation Workshop, Boston College, May 2017 18. Northeastern Network Science Institute, PhD Seminar, March 2017 ### "When Early Adopters Don't Adopt" 19. International Industrial Organization Conference (IIOC), April 2017 20. University of Munich, April 2017 21. NET Institute Conference, NYU Stern, December 2016 22. MIT Economics, Labor Lunch, November 2016 23. INFORMS Strategy Conference, Nashville, November 2016 24. Roundtable on Engineering Entrepreneurship Research (REER), 2016, Scheller College of Business, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA 25. MIT FinTech and the Disruption of Finance, New York, September 2016 26. Micro@Sloan Conference, MIT, July 2016 27. Platform Strategy Research Symposium, Boston University Questrom School of Business, July 2016 28. Stern Economics of Strategy Workshop, NYU Stern, June 2016 29. 2016 Strategy Research Forum, Newport, May 2016 30. NESTA Innovation Growth Lab Global Conference, London, UK, May 2016 31. Digital Innovation Workshop, Boston College, May 2016 32. MIT CIO Symposium, May 2016 33. World Bank, DC, April 2016 34. Ohio State University, April 2016 35. Harvard Business School, March 2016 ### "Machine Intelligence vs. Human Judgment in New Venture Finance" 36. Academy of Management, Chicago, 2018 ### "Online Syndicates and Startup Investment" 37. Kauffman Entrepreneurship Scholars Conference, October 2017 ### "Some Simple Economics of the Blockchain" 38. Blockchain & Automated IT for Government Summit, Washington DC, January 2018 39. Command Strategy Group, Netcom, January 2018 40. Council on Foreign Relations, New York, June 2017 41. Harvard Law School, Institute for Global Law and Policy, June 2017 42. MIT IDE Conference, May 2017 43. MIT ICT Conference, April 2017 44. MIT Crossroads Logistics Conference, April 2017 45. Paris Region Economic Development Agency, April 2017 46. Yale Law School, Weil, Gotshal & Manges Roundtable, March 2017 47. Healthcare Blockchain Summit, Washington DC, Keynote Speaker, March 2017 48. Evercore Digital Payments, New York, Keynote Speaker, March 2017 49. General Electric, Global Operations Executive Meeting, Boston, December 2016 50. Digital Currency Group, Bitcoin Infrastructure Workshop, SF, October 2016 51. Capgemini Webinar Speaker Series, October 2016 ### "MIT Digital Currency Experiment" 52. Council on Foreign Relations, New York, February 2016 53. MIT Sloan Dean's Circle, San Francisco, February 2016 54. UC Riverside, February 2016 55. NYU Stern, October 2015 56. MIT Field Experiments Seminar, October 2015 57. MIT Sloan Dean's Circle, New York, October 2015 58. MIT Presidential CEO Advisory Board, June 2015 59. MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, March 2015 60. MIT Academic Council, April 2015 61. MIT Bitcoin Expo, MIT, March 2015 62. The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, December 2nd, 2014 63. MIT Innovation Lab, November 14th, 2014 ### "Are Syndicates the Killer App of Equity Crowdfunding?" 64. World Bank, DC, April 2016 65. 3rd Annual Academic Symposium on Crowdfunding, September 18th, 2015. Berkeley University, Berkeley, CA 66. MIT Sloan Alumni Reunion Weekend, June 2015 ### "Slack Time and Innovation" 67. Economics of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (EEI) Conference, June 13th, 2015, Queen's School of Business, Ontario, Canada 68. MIT Sloan Marketing Group, November 17th, 2014 69. Roundtable on Engineering Entrepreneurship Research (REER), November 7th, 2014, Scheller College of Business, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA 70. Duke Strategy Conference, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, October 22nd, 2014 71. World Bank Innovation Policy Platform Webinar series, October 2014 72. 2nd Annual Academic Symposium on Crowdfunding, September 11th, 2014 Berkeley University, Berkeley, CA 73. 12th Open and User Innovation Conference, July 29th, Harvard University, Cambridge MA 74. 12th ZEW Conference 2014, "The Economics of Information and Communication Technologies", June 16th, 2014 Mannheim, Germany 75. Smith Entrepreneurship Research Conference, April 25th, 2014, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 76. World Bank Innovation Policy Course, April 17th, 2014 — Washington DC 77. "JOBS Act Investor Protection Forum", Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), The White House, March 24th, 2014 — Washington DC 78. American Economic Association — ASSA Meetings 2014, Philadelphia PA 79. NBER "Changing Financing Market for Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference", November 9th, 2013 — San Francisco, CA ### "Some Simple Economics of Crowdfunding" 80. Innovation Policy Platform, OECD and World Bank. December 10th, 2014. 81. MIT Round Table and Panel "Can Crowfunding Democratize Access to Capital?", May 19th, 2014, Cambridge MA 82. "U.S. Treasury JOBS Act Roundtable", U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Capital Markets, November 18th, 2013 — Washington DC 83. Public Policy Forum on Venture Capital and Innovation, December 3rd, 2013 — Quebec City, Canada 84. MIT Innovation Lab, November 4th, 2013, Cambridge MA 85. Academic Symposium on Crowdfunding, UC Berkeley, October 17th, 2013 ### "Did Cheaper Flights Change the Geography of Scientific Collaboration?" 86. Academy of Management, Vancouver, 2015 ### "Microgeography and the Direction of Inventive Activity" 87. London School of Economics, March 2016 88. BPS Wiley-Blackwell Outstanding Dissertation Award Finalists, Academy of Management, Philadelphia, August 2014 89. Bocconi University, Management and Technology Department, Milan, Italy 90. Boston University School of Management, Strategy & Innovation Department, Boston, MA 91. Fox School of Business, Strategic Management, Temple University, Philadelphia 92. Harvard Business School, Strategy Unit, Boston 93. Harvard Business School, Technology, Operations and Management Unit, Boston 94. IESE Business School, Strategic Management Department, Barcelona 95. London Business School, Strategy & Entrepreneurship, London, UK 96. Krannert School of Management, Strategic Management Area, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 97. MIT Sloan, Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management (TIES), Cambridge, MA 98. Scheller College of Business, Georgia Tech, Roundtable on Engineering Entrepreneurship Research (REER) 2012, Atlanta, GA 99. SMU Cox, Strategy & Entrepreneurship, Dallas, TX 100. Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Department of Economics and Business, Barcelona, Spain 101. Yale School of Management, New Haven, CT 102. Wilfrid Laurier University, School of Business and Economics, Department of Business and Policy, Waterloo, ON 103. Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management 2012, Boston MA 104. The Organization, Economics and Policy of Scientific Research Conference 2012, LEI & BRICK, Turin, Italy 105. ECE Conference 2011, Martin Prosperity Institute, Toronto, Canada. 106. CCC Doctoral Consortium 2011, MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge ### "The Geography of Crowdfunding" 107. Association of American Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting 2012, New York 108. Open Innovation Conference 2010, MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge ### "Tracing the Linkages between Science and Technology: An Exploratory Analysis of the Research Networks among Scientists and Inventors" 109. 25th DRUID Celebration Conference 2008 on Entrepreneurship and Innovation, CBS Copenhagen Business School, Denmark 110. European Patent Academy 2006, St. Gallen, Switzerland ## Conference Discussant 1. Toronto Fintech Forum, October 2017 2. Strategy Research Forum, May 2017 3. NET Institute Conference, NYU Stern, December 2016 4. NESTA Innovation Growth Lab Global Conference, London, UK, May 2016 5. Harvard Business School Strategy Research Conference, 2015 6. Roundtable on Engineering Entrepreneurship Research (REER), 2015, Scheller College of Business, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA 7. BPS Managing Your Dissertation Workshop (Organizer), AOM 2015 8. Charles River Distinguished Speaker and Doctoral Student Conference on Technology and Innovation, Harvard Business School, 2014 9. Roundtable on Engineering Entrepreneurship Research (REER), 2013, Scheller College of Business, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA ## Awards and Grants 1. Kauffman Junior Faculty Fellowship in Entrepreneurship Research (KJFF), 2017 2. NEC Corporation Fund for Research in Computers and Communications, MIT Research Support Committee, 2016 3. Junior Faculty Research Assistance Program, MIT Sloan, "Using Digital Trails to Predict Startup Growth" 2016 4. NET Institute Summer Grant, "Seeding the S-Curve? The Role of Early Adopters in Diffusion", with Catherine Tucker 5. Junior Faculty Research Assistance Program, MIT Sloan, "Using Digital Trails to Predict Startup Growth", 2016 6. TIM Past Division Chairs' Emerging Scholar Award, Finalist, 2016 7. Junior Faculty Research Assistance Program, MIT Sloan, "Equity Crowdfunding Syndicates", 2015 8. 3M Nontenured Business School Faculty Award, 2013 to 2016 9. Wiley Blackwell Outstanding Dissertation Award in Business Policy and Strategy for "Three Essays on the Impact of Geographic and Social Proximity on Innovation", assigned by the Business Policy and Strategy division of the Academy of Management (AOM), 2014 10. Finalist for the TIM Division's Best Dissertation Award, Academy of Management (AOM), 2014 11. NESTA and Kauffman Foundation Grant for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Growth Experiments (with Ina Ganguli), 2014 12. Edward B. Roberts (1957) Fund Grant for Technology-Based Entrepreneurship (with Hong Luo), 2014 13. Best Student Paper Award, Roundtable on Engineering Entrepreneurship Research (REER) 2012, Scheller College of Business, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA 14. Best Junior Scholar Paper Prize, "The Organization, Economics and Policy of Scientific Research", LEI & BRICK, 2012 15. Best Paper Proceedings of the Academy of Management Meeting (AOM), 2012 16. Finalist for the TIM Division's Best Student Paper Award, Academy of Management Meeting (AOM), 2012 17. NET Institute Summer Grant, "The Geography of Crowdfunding" with Ajay Agrawal and Avi Goldfarb 18. GSEF — Joseph L. Rotman School of Management Award, 2008 to 2011 19. Doctoral Fellowship, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, 2007 to 2012 20. 3M Canada Incorporated Scholarship, 3M Canada Inc., 2007 ## Ad-Hoc Reviewer - Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) - Economic Letters - European Commission - European Management Review - European Journal of Marketing - Industrial and Corporate Change - Information Systems Research - Israel Science Foundation - Journal of Economics and Management Strategy - Journal of Banking and Finance - Journal of Business Venturing - Journal of Industrial Economics - Management Science - Managerial Decision Economics - National Science Foundation - Nature - Organization Science - Quarterly Journal of Economics - Regional Studies - Research Policy - Science - Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal - US Small Business Administration ## Past Editorial Review Board - Strategic Management Journal - California Management Review ## MIT Committees - General Georges Doriot Lectureship (Chair), 2016 to 2018. - MIT Sloan TIES PhD Admissions, 2015 to 2018. ## Teaching - Blockchain Technologies: Business Innovation and Application, Executive Education - 15.399 Entrepreneurship Lab (E-LAB), 2013 – 2018 (Rating: **6.5 out of 7**) - 15.390 New Enterprises, 2013 – 2018 (Rating: **6.3 out of 7**) - ES.625 Crowdfunding, 2013 – 2014 - ES.716 Crowdfunding, Bitcoin and Blockchain Technology, 2015 - ES.721 Crowdfunding and Blockchain, 2016 ## PhD and Master Students - Eunhee Sohn, PhD, TIES (Georgia Tech) - Jennifer Hongbo Jiang, Sloan Fellow, 2016 - Alain Etienne, MSMS, 2016 - Andre Geha, MSMS, 2016 - Akshay Bagai, SDM, 2016 - Louis Coppey, MSMS, 2016 - Melodie Lamarque, MSMS, 2016 - Yupawadee Srisukvattananan, MSMS 2016 - Jason Traff, MBA, 2015 - Sascha Jan Eder, MSMS, 2015 - Alessandro Babini, MSMS, 2015 - Yang Yang, MSMS, 2015 - Vissanjy, Nadir S., MBA, 2014 - Solene Genre, MSMS, 2014 ## Executive Education - MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (REAP), 2013 to 2017 - MIT Entrepreneurship Development Program (EDP), 2014 to 2017 - MIT Sloan-EPOCH, 2017 - MIT Takeda Pharmaceuticals R&D Leadership Academy, 2017 - MIT EMBA: "Risk Financing and Crowdfunding", 2014 to 2017 - MIT China Entrepreneur Club Program, 2013 - MIT Lisbon MBA, 2016 to 2017 - Fundacion Rafael Del Pino "Frontiers of Innovation & Entrepreneurship", 2016 to 2017 - The Next Founders, University of Toronto, 2014 to 2017 - Yale School of Management — Internet Finance Program, 2016 ## Other Past Professional Memberships - MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy (IDE) - MIT Digital Currency Initiative (DCI) - MIT Delta V - American Economic Association - Academy of Management