Travis Howell
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Mail code: 4006Campus: Tempe
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I am an assistant professor of Management and Entrepreneurship at Arizona State University. My research primarily focuses on the people side of startups, including founders, key hires, and other people within and around new companies.
My work has been cited in various news outlets including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Bloomberg, Fortune Magazine, the Financial Times, Forbes, Yahoo! Finance, Reuters, Washington Post, CNN, CNBC, BBC, the Los Angeles Times, Business Insider, FastCompany, Nasdaq.com, Observer.com, and Marketplace.com. My research has been funded by the Kauffman Foundation, the Strategy Research Foundation, and the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise.
Before entering academia, I worked as a consultant at PwC focusing on the valuation of intangible assets (technology, customer relationships, trademarks, etc.). Clients ranged from venture-backed startups to Fortune 500 companies. I also worked at two startups: IMSAR, a startup developing advanced radar technology, and Seasons, an attempt at re-inventing the grocery store.
- PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Masters in Accounting, Brigham Young University
- Bachelors of Science in Accounting, Brigham Young University
- Entrepreneurship
- Founders
- Founding Teams
- Do founders need "adult supervision"? (Academic article). Recently there has been a string of scandals involving companies led by their founders. Our research suggests that founders' deep attachment to their companies may make them more likely than other managers to rationalize unethical behavior. However, we also find a potential solution; founders are much more ethical when they have a "second-in-command" who is involved in decision making (i.e., the Sheryl Sandberg to the Mark Zuckerberg)
- Why Is It So Difficult to Find a Cofounder? How Do I Find One? (HBR article, Academic article). Our data show that when entrepreneurs search for cofounders, they often prioritize skillsets over interpersonal fit. However, the potential cofounders they speak with are more attentive to interpersonal fit than skillsets. This disconnect sometimes results in promising partnerships falling through. Our findings also suggest strategies for avoiding these pitfalls.
- How Do Entrepreneurs Choose Cofounders? (Academic article). And do women entrepreneurs prioritize different qualities than men entrepreneurs when choosing cofounders? In this study, we show that men entrepreneurs usually prioritize skillsets over interpersonal fit. In contrast, women entrepreneurs adapt to situational factors, such that sometimes they prioritize interpersonal fit and other times they prioritize skillsets, depending on the situation they are in.
- When/How Can Solo Founders Succeed? (HBR article. Academic article). We examine the conditions under which it might make sense to solo found rather than find co-founders. Our findings reveal how solo-founders strategically use "co-creators" (benefactors, alliance partners, etc.) rather than co-founders to overcome challenges in unique and unexpected ways.
- Do Founders Tune Out Their Teams? (MIT Sloan article. Academic article). As founders' companies grow and mature, their surrounding team members are often viewed as necessary to help compensate for the founder’s managerial weaknesses. But do founders actually listen to the advice of the seasoned executives who surround them? Our study suggests the answer to this question is often no.
- Coworking Spaces: What Are They? (MIT Sloan article. Academic article). Coworking spaces have emerged as a new and promising phenomenon. Yet its implications are largely unstudied given the rapid rise of the phenomenon. My research explores whether coworking “works’, or in other words, whether (and how) it adds value for its members.
- Entrepreneurs and Heuristic Thinking (Academic article). Using in-depth case studies, we explore how firms develop an internationalization capability. The setting is six entrepreneurial firms from three culturally distinct countries. Our data show that executives begin with imperfect heuristics and then managers continue development by elaborating their understanding of what task to perform and how to perform it.
- Black Women in Entrepreneurship (Academic article). Black women are underrepresented in entrepreneurship. However, using data from Venture For America, we find that Black women are much more likely to start companies after working as an employee in a startup. The data suggests that this employment acts as a learning and apprenticeship opportunity that gives individuals the confidence to start their own companies.
Courses
2026 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| ENT 305 | Princ of Entrepreneurship |
| ENT 305 | Princ of Entrepreneurship |
| ENT 305 | Princ of Entrepreneurship |
2025 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| ENT 305 | Princ of Entrepreneurship |
| ENT 305 | Princ of Entrepreneurship |
| ENT 305 | Princ of Entrepreneurship |
2024 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| ENT 305 | Princ of Entrepreneurship |
| ENT 305 | Princ of Entrepreneurship |
| ENT 305 | Princ of Entrepreneurship |