Faculty Directory

Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship

Neal and Jan Dempsey Endowed Professor

Education

PhD Stanford University (2007)

MS University of Virginia (2002)

BS University of Virginia (2000)

Academic Expertise

Positions Held

At the University of Washington since 2014

Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, London Business School, 2011-2014

Assistant Professor of Management and Organization, Robert H. Smith School, University of Maryland, 2007-2011

Co-founder, Chief Technology Officer, and Interim CEO, Topik Solutions, 2000-2002

Selected Publications

1. “Are Seed Accelerators Status Springboards for Startups? Or Sand Traps?“

   Journal Article:Hallen, Benjamin, Susan Cohen, and Sung Ho Park, (forthcoming). Strategic Management Journal,
2. “Entrepreneurial Network Evolution: Explicating the Structural Localism and Agentic Network Change Distinction“

   Journal Article:Hallen, Benjamin, Jason Davis, and Alex Murray, (2020). Academy of Management Annals, Vol. 14(2), pp. 1-36.
3. “Do Accelerators Work? If So, How?“

   Journal Article:Hallen, Benjamin, Susan Cohen, and Christopher Bingham, (2020). Organization Science, Vol. 31(2), pp. 378-414.
4. “The Role of Accelerators in Mitigating Bounded Rationality in New Ventures“

   Journal Article:Cohen, S., Bingham, C., Hallen, B., (2019). Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 64(4), pp. 810-854.
5. “Entrepreneurial beacons: The Yale endowment, run‐ups, and the growth of venture capital“

   Journal Article:Bermiss, Y., Hallen, B., McDonald, R., and Pahnke, E. (All authors contributed equally and are listed alphabetically), (2017). Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 38, pp. 545-565.
6. “The Conditional Importance of Prior Ties: A Group-Level Analysis of Venture Capital Syndication“

   Journal Article:Zhang, L., Gupta, A.K., and Hallen, B.L., (2017). Academy of Management Journal,
7. “When Do Entrepreneurs Accurately Evaluate Venture Capital Firm’s Track Records? A Bounded Rationality Perspective“

   Journal Article:Hallen, B. & Pahnke, E.C., (2016). Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 59(5), pp. 1535-1560.
8. “Exposed: Venture Capital, Competitor Ties, and Entrepreneurial Innovation“

   Journal Article:Pahnke, E., McDonald, R., Wang, D., Hallen, B., (2015). Academy of Management Journal,
9. “How do Social Defenses Work? A Resource Dependence Lens on Technology Ventures, Venture Capitalists, and Corporate Relationships“

   Journal Article:Hallen, B.L., Katila, R., & Rosenberger, J.D., (2014). Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 57(4), pp. 1078-1101.
10. “Catalyzing Strategies and Efficient Tie Formation: How Entrepreneurs Obtain Venture Capital Ties“

    Journal Article:Hallen, B.L., & Eisenhardt, K.M., (2012). Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 55(1), pp. 35-70.
11. “The Causes and Consequences of the Initial Network Positions of New Organizations: From Whom do Entrepreneurs Receive Investments“

    Journal Article:Hallen, B.J., (2008). Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 53, pp. 685–718.

Working Papers

Tidhar, Ron, Benjamin Hallen, and Kathleen Eisenhardt (2023) “Measure Twice, Cut Once: Achieving Exceptional Growth in Nascent Online Fashion Markets”

Murray, Alex, Benjamin Hallen, and Suresh Kotha (2023) “How do Nascent Organizations Quickly and Accurately Learn New Skills and Capabilities? A Study of Resource Mobilization via Crowdfunding”

Sung Ho Park, Hallen, Benjamin, and Suresh Kotha (2023) “What Drives Early-Stage Venture Valuations? A Variance-Decomposition Analysis”

Honors and Awards

Named one of "Best 40 Under 40 Professors", Poets & Quants. Global listing of Top Business School Professors under the age of 40. 2017.

MS in Entrepreneurship Faculty of the Quarter Award: 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023

Winner of "Dean's Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching", Foster School of Business, 2018.

Technology Management MBA Teaching in Excellence Award (One of top faculty in program by student vote):  2015, 2016, 2017

Academy of Management's Technology and Innovation Management Division Best Paper Award, 2014

Courses Taught

I teach courses on how entrepreneurs can accelerate and scale new businesses. I teach the Executive MBA Capstone, helped create and launch Foster's MS in Entrepreneurship (where I teach a course on Strategies for Scaling and Funding), and co-developed the science-based entrepreneurship course for the Creative Destruction Lab. I also teach executive courses on innovation, digital transformation, and technology strategy. I frequently develop my own cases and center discussion around frameworks that are both actionable and evidence-based.