Most of us who teach MBA or Executive MBA students eventually encounter one who is thinking differently.
Not asking for better or faster frameworks, but pressing for explanations.
They keep asking:
- Why do ventures with capable teams and strong ideas fail or exit, while less promising ones enter and thrive?
- Why do similar startup processes produce very different outcomes?
- Why do well-established management principles break down under innovation, platforms, and institutional complexity?
If students in your classes ask questions like these, I would be grateful if you would encourage them to reach out.
We are recruiting for the 2026 cohort of the fully funded Ph.D. Program in Entrepreneurship at Louisiana State University's E. J. Ourso College of Business.
This is a theory-driven doctoral program, well suited for inquisitive MBAs and eMBAs who are shifting from practice toward systematically explaining entrepreneurial, strategic, and management phenomena.
We are particularly hoping to reach students who:
- stand out in entrepreneurship, strategy, innovation, or management courses
- enjoy theory, logic, and analytical reasoning
- are increasingly dissatisfied with surface-level answers and generic playbooks
If a student comes to mind, I would be grateful if you would make an introduction or encourage them to contact me directly.
The program offers close faculty mentorship, full funding (assistantship, tuition remission, stipend, health insurance), conference support, and early opportunities for coauthorship, with preparation for publication in leading journals (AMR, AMJ, JBV, SMJ, SEJ, JOM).
Priority deadline: February 15, 2026
Final deadline: March 1, 2026
Details & application:
https://www.lsu.edu/business/sdeis/phd.php
Thank you for helping identify, and encourage, the next generation of entrepreneurship scholars.
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Gideon Markman
Full Professor
Colorado State University
Fort Collins CO
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