76: Kathleen Eisenhardt (Stanford) on the Intersection of Business and Engineering, and Suerte Tequila

Our penultimate episode from the Reversing the Arrow conference features a classic sit-down interview with Kathy Eisenhardt, Stanford W. Ascherman, M.D., Professor in the School of Engineering at Stanford. Kathy, as you’ll hear, is a legend in entrepreneurship education. Her trailblazing approach to researching how entrepreneurship really works makes her one of Jeff’s heroes. And the Eisenhardt Method, which she developed, deeply impresses Brad with its common sense approach. We think it’ll impress you too. Kathy was also the PhD advisor for Bob Eberhart, Creative Distillation’s most frequent guest and founder of the Reversing the Arrow conference. In this fast-moving discussion, Kathy, Brad and Jeff talk about the pretty cool things that happen when business students meet engineering students — and how entrepreneurship programs serve as ideal incubators for great outcomes. Other topics include the findings of a recent paper that Kathy co-authored on civilian drones, advice for young entrepreneurs, and the simple reasons why she and our hosts prefer the qualitative to the quantitative. It’s a riveting conversation with someone who has been directing traffic at the intersection of business, engineering and entrepreneurship education for decades. Enjoy and cheers! *** This episode of Creative Distillation was recorded in the kitchen of the Chautauqua Community House during the Reversing the Arrow Conference, held in Boulder in June 2024. Learn more about Suerte Tequila at drinksuerte.com. Learn more about Kathy Eisenhardt on her faculty page at Stanford University: https://profiles.stanford.edu/kathleen-eisenhardt Read Kathy’s paper, "Organizing Form, Experimentation, and Performance: Innovation in the Nascent Civilian Drone Industry," published in the July/August 2022 issue of Organization Science. Check the show notes for a link. https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/10.1287/orsc.2021.1505 ___ Learn more about CU's Deming Center for Entrepreneurship: https://deming.colorado.edu Comments/criticism/suggestions/feedback? We'd love to hear it. Drop us a note at [e-mail]. Thanks for listening. -
An Analog Digital Arts Production for the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship
Produced, recorded and edited by Joel Davis "Whiskey Before Breakfast" [Traditional] performed by Jeffrey York and Brad Werner. Recorded, mixed and mastered by George Figgs ___ CREATIVE DISTILLATION University of Colorado-Boulder professors Jeff York and Brad Werner distill entrepreneurship research into actionable insights. Jeff York | Associate Professor | Research Director
[e-mail] Brad Werner | Instructor | Teaching Director
[e-mail] Deming Center for Entrepreneurship | CU Leeds School of Business
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