John Sebesta, PhD
Research Areas
Entrepreneurial ecosystems, private capital funding systems
Industry Impact
- Researches how entrepreneurs make decisions and secure the financial, institutional, and strategic resources needed to develop and grow new ventures.
- Helps organizations and regional partners strengthen entrepreneurial ecosystems by examining how systems, networks, and funding structures influence venture creation and opportunity development.
Biography at a Glance
John is the Koch Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship and a professor of the practice at the Daniels College of Business. He has taught entrepreneurship at Daniels since 2020. John also taught social entrepreneurship throughout Central America and is a proven entrepreneur with experience in sustainable real estate development and technology startups. With over 10 years of international business management and negotiation experience in a Fortune 50 firm, John also understands the opportunities and challenges for large multinational corporations.
John’s research focuses on understanding how to support the effectiveness of entrepreneurs at the micro (cognition), meso (organizational roles) and macro (ecosystem) levels, with an emphasis on making entrepreneurship more accessible to disadvantaged groups.
Education
- Executive PhD, Daniels College of Business
- MBA, Southern Methodist University
- BBA, New Mexico State University
Hobbies/Interests
- Hiking
- Cooking
- Wine tasting
- International travel