Ethan Mollick

Ethan Mollick
  • Ralph J. Roberts Distinguished Faculty Scholar
  • Associate Professor of Management
  • Academic Director, Wharton Interactive

Contact Information

  • office Address:

    2026 SH-DH
    3620 Locust Walk
    Philadelphia, PA 19104

Research Interests: innovation, entrepreneurship, crowdfunding, games, AI

Links: Twitter, Substack

Overview

Ethan Mollick is an Associate Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he studies and teaches innovation and entrepreneurship. He also leads Wharton Interactive, an effort to democratize education using games and simulations.  His papers have been published in top management journals and his research has been covered by CNN, The New York Times, and other leading publications. He has created numerous teaching games on a wide variety of topics.

Prior to his time in academia, Ethan cofounded a startup company, and he currently advises a number of startups and organizations.

Mollick received his PhD and MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.

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Research

  • Valentina Assenova and Ethan Mollick (Working), Tipping Points in Gender Representation: Evidence from the Startup Game.

    Abstract: Startups founded by women consistently receive less funding and lower valuations compared to those founded by men, particularly from male investors. A common remediation technique to reduce this gender inequality has been to increase women’s representation in powerful resource-controlling roles, though in some cases, this appears to exacerbate backlash and stereotyping effects. We examine whether and how shifts in the gender composition of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs might affect the emergence of a critical mass to remediate gender inequality. We propose that a central driver of this inequality is homophily preferences among men and suggest that these preferences become weaker as women’s representation increases. This mechanism results in a nonlinear “Goldilocks” effect: gender inequality dips for median levels of women’s representation but is amplified below and above these thresholds. We examine the evidence for the Goldilocks effect using data from 27,082 participants in a live-play simulation of fundraising in Silicon Valley, in which we randomized players to the roles of founders of early-stage companies and partners of venture capital firms. We found that gender inequality was lowest at median thresholds of critical mass in women’s representation but increased below and above these thresholds. Our findings suggest that increasing gender diversity in venture capital firms holds the key to mitigating gender inequality in startup funding and valuation.

  • Ethan Mollick, The Unicorn\’s Shadow: Combating the Dangerous Myths that Hold Back Startups, Founders, and Investors (Wharton University Press, 2020)

  • Jason Greenberg and Ethan Mollick (Working), Sole Survivors: Solo Ventures Versus Founding Teams.

    Abstract: A widespread scholarly and popular consensus suggests that new ventures perform better when launched by teams, rather than individuals. This view has become so pervasive that many of the foremost investors rarely, if ever, fund startups founded by a solo entrepreneur. Despite this belief in the superiority of teams in the startup process, little empirical evidence has been used to examine this key question. In this paper, we examine the implications of founding alone versus as a group by using a unique dataset of crowdfunded companies that together generated approximately $358 million in total revenue. We show that companies started by solo founders survive longer than those started by teams. Further, organizations started by solo founders generate more revenue than organizations started by founder pairs, and do not perform significantly different than larger teams. This suggests that the taken-for-granted assumption among scholars that entrepreneurship is best performed by teams should be reevaluated, with implications for theories of team performance and entrepreneurial strategy.

  • Jason Greenberg and Ethan Mollick (2016), Activist Choice Homophily and the Crowdfunding of Female Founders, Administrative Science Quarterly, Forthcoming. 0001839216678847

    Abstract: In this paper, we examine when members of underrepresented groups choose to support each other, using the context of the funding of female founders via donation-based crowdfunding. Building on theories of choice homophily, we develop the concept of activist choice homophily, in which the basis of attraction between two individuals is not merely similarity between them, but rather perceptions of shared structural barriers stemming from a common social identity based on group membership. We differentiate activist choice homophily from interpersonal choice homophily that is based on the perceived similarity between two individuals, as well as from “induced homophily,” which reflects the likelihood that those in a particular social category will affiliate and form networks. Using lab experiments and field data, we show that activist choice homophily explains why women are more likely to succeed at crowdfunding than men and why women are most successful in industries in which they are least represented.

  • Ethan Mollick (2016), Filthy Lucre? Innovative Communities, Identity, and Commercialization, Organization Science, Forthcoming.

    Abstract: Online communities play an increasingly important role in developing innovation. However, relatively little is known about the ways in which community affiliation is associated with innovations and products generated in these communities are commercialized. By examining Open Source Software (OSS) as an example of an innovation community, and using both a quasi-experiment and a longitudinal survey, I seek to shed light on this issue. In the quasi-experiment using the launch of the Apple App Store, I find a lower propensity towards commercialization among individuals associated with online community innovation. I then examine the mechanisms for this lower commercialization with a novel longitudinal survey of OSS community members. Despite the history of OSS as an anti-commercial community, I do not find that anti-commercial attitudes play a role in commercialization decisions. Instead, differences in self-identity between community-based innovators and entrepreneurs have large significant effects on the propensity to commercialization. I conclude with a discussion of the implications of these findings for both the literatures on entrepreneurial identity and community innovation.

  • Ethan Mollick and Venkat Kuppuswamy, “Crowdfunding: Evidence on the Democratization of Startup Funding”. In Revolutionizing Innovation: Users, Communities, and Open Innovation, edited by Dietmar Harhoff and Karim Lakhani, (Cambrige: MIT Press, 2016)

  • Ethan Mollick and Alicia Robb (2016), Democratizing Innovation and Capital Access: The Role of Crowdfunding, California Management Review, 58 (2).

    Abstract: This paper focuses on if, and how, crowdfunding might democratize the commercialization of innovation. We examine research in three key areas related to democratization. First, we examine how crowdfunders decide what effort to support, and compare the decision-making process of the crowd to that of experts. Second, we investigate whether crowdfunding democratizes access to capital by asking whether or not groups that have historically been underrepresented in capital markets, on both the supply side and demand side, gain additional access to capital markets through crowdfunding. Finally, we investigate whether crowdfunding leads to the growth of new firms in the same way that traditional funding does.  Taken together, these questions point at a potentially vast alternative infrastructure for developing, funding, and commercializing innovation. By offering some early glimpses into how this world operates, we hope to inform researchers, managers, and policy makers.

  • Jason Greenberg, Ethan Mollick, Venkat Kuppuswamy (Under Review), Second Thoughts About Second Acts: Gender Differences in Serial Founding Rates.

    Abstract: Men are far more likely to start new ventures than women.  We argue that one explanation of this gap is that women respond differently to signals of past entrepreneurial success due to the “male hubris, female humility” effect. We argue that as a result women are disproportionately less likely to persist in second founding attempts than men when they have succeeded or failed by large margins.  Using a data set of serial founders in crowdfunding, we find evidence supporting this prediction. We then turn to a unique survey of founders in crowdfunding in order to examine alternative explanations. We find support for a variety of systematic differences between male and female founders, but the persistence effect remains. While decreased persistence in the face of low quality opportunities benefits women individually, we argue that it disadvantages women as a group, as it leads to 25.3% fewer female-led foundings in our sample than would have occurred if women reacted similarly to men.

  • Ethan Mollick (Draft), Delivery Rates on Kickstarter.

  • Matthew Bidwell and Ethan Mollick (2015), Shifts and Ladders: Comparing the Role of Internal and External Mobility in Executive Careers, Organiztion Science, 26 (6), pp. 1629-1645.

    Abstract: Workers can build their careers either by moving into a different job within their current organization or else by moving into a new job within a different organization. We use matching perspectives on job mobility to develop predictions about the different roles that those internal and external moves will play within their careers. We propose that internal and external mobility are associated with very different rewards: upwards progression into a job with greater responsibilities is much more likely to happen through internal mobility, but external moves will nonetheless offer similar increases in pay, as employers seek to attract external hires. We also examine how these predictions change when moves take workers across job functions as well as when external mobility happens involuntarily. Analyses of data on the careers on MBA alumni are used to support these arguments. Despite growing interest in boundaryless careers, our findings indicate that internal and external mobility play very different roles in executives’ careers, with upwards mobility still happening overwhelmingly within organizations.

Teaching

Current Courses (Spring 2023)

  • MGMT2300 - Entrepreneurship

    How do you take a good idea and turn it into a successful venture? Whether you plan to become a founder, investor, mentor, partner, or early employee of a startup company, this course will take you through the entire journey of new venture creation and development. MGMT 230 is a project-based survey course designed to provide an overview of the entrepreneurial process and give you practical hands-on experience with new venture development. You and a team will have the chance to ideate, test, and develop a pitch for an early-stage startup by incorporating material from class lectures, simulations, labs, and class discussions. By the end of the course, you will have a better understanding of what it takes to create a successful startup, as well as proven techniques for identifying and testing new market opportunities, acquiring resources, bringing new products and services to market, scaling, and exiting new ventures.

    MGMT2300001 ( Syllabus )

  • MGMT8020 - Innov, Chg And Ent

    Designed for students with a serious interest in entrepreneurship, this course will provide you with an advanced theoretical foundation and a set of practical tools for the management of startups and entrepreneurial teams in fast-changing and innovative environments. Building on the skills of MGMT 801, every class session is built around an experience where you have to put learning into practice, including the award-winning Looking Glass entrepreneurial simulation, role-playing exercises, and a variety of other games and simulations. The goal is to constantly challenge you to deal with entrepreneurial or innovative experiences, as you learn to navigate complex and changing environments on the fly, applying what you learned to a variety of scenarios. MGMT 802 is built to be challenging and will require a desire to deal with ambiguous and shifting circumstances. It is recommended students take MGMT 801 before enrolling in this course. Format: Lectures, discussion, interim reports, class participation, readings report, and presentations, and an innovation assessment in PowerPoint format.

    MGMT8020001 ( Syllabus )

  • MGMT7990 - Special Topics Mgmt

    Courses offered of various topics and points of focus, ranging across multiple concentrations of Management, (i.e., Entrepreneurial, Strategy, Organizational Business, etc.).

    MGMT7990401 ( Syllabus )

  • MGMT1980 - Special Topics In Mgmt

    Courses offered of various topics and points of focus, ranging across multiple concentrations of Management, (i.e., Entrepreneurial, Strategy, Organizational Effectiveness, etc.).

    MGMT1980401 ( Syllabus )

All Courses

  • EDEN5080 - Technology Strategy

    Technology Strategy is designed to meet the needs of future managers, entrepreneurs, consultants and investors who must analyze and develop business strategies in technology-based industries. The emphasis is on learning conceptual models and frameworks to help navigate the complexity and dynamism in such industries. This is not a course in new product development or in using technology to improve business processes and offerings. The class will take a perspective of both established and emerging firms competing through technological innovations, and study the key strategic drivers of value creation and appropriation in the context of business ecosystems. Prerequisite: Enrollment in Education Entrepreneurship program.

  • EDEN6020 - Technology Strategy: 2

    Technology Strategy is designed to meet the needs of future managers, entrepreneurs, consultants and investors who must analyze and develop business strategies in technology-based industries. The emphasis is on learning conceptual models and frameworks to help navigate the complexity and dynamism in such industries. This is not a course in new product development or in using technology to improve business processes and offerings. The class will take a perspective of both established and emerging firms competing through technological innovations, and study the key strategic drivers of value creation and appropriation in the context of business ecosystems. Prerequisite: Enrollment in Education Entrepreneurship program.

  • MGMT1980 - Special Topics in MGMT

    Courses offered of various topics and points of focus, ranging across multiple concentrations of Management, (i.e., Entrepreneurial, Strategy, Organizational Effectiveness, etc.).

  • MGMT2300 - Entrepreneurship

    How do you take a good idea and turn it into a successful venture? Whether you plan to become a founder, investor, mentor, partner, or early employee of a startup company, this course will take you through the entire journey of new venture creation and development. MGMT 230 is a project-based survey course designed to provide an overview of the entrepreneurial process and give you practical hands-on experience with new venture development. You and a team will have the chance to ideate, test, and develop a pitch for an early-stage startup by incorporating material from class lectures, simulations, labs, and class discussions. By the end of the course, you will have a better understanding of what it takes to create a successful startup, as well as proven techniques for identifying and testing new market opportunities, acquiring resources, bringing new products and services to market, scaling, and exiting new ventures.

  • MGMT2310 - Entrepreneurship Launchpad

    This advanced course on entrepreneurship focuses on taking your venture from a good idea to a fundable business. Participants need to come to the class with a validated idea that they are committed to pursuing commercially. The course is entirely oriented toward applying concepts and frameworks to advance your venture and provides practical guidance for testing the product or service, forming the entity, establishing partnerships, and engaging with investors. Students must have successfully completed MGMT 801 before enrolling (or obtain the permission of the instructor). Format: Highly interactive Requirements: Class participation, interim assignments.

  • MGMT7990 - Special Topics MGMT

    Courses offered of various topics and points of focus, ranging across multiple concentrations of Management, (i.e., Entrepreneurial, Strategy, Organizational Business, etc.).

  • MGMT8010 - Entrepreneurship

    MGMT 801 is the foundation coures in the Entrepeurial Management program. The purpose of this course is to explore the many dimensions of new venture creation and growth. While most of the examples in class will be drawn from new venture formation, the principles also apply to entrepreneurship in corporate settings and to non-profit entrepreneurship. We will be concerned with content and process questions as well as with formulation and implementation issues that relate to conceptualizing, developing, and managing successful new ventures. The emphasis in this course is on applying and synthesizing concepts and techniques from functional areas of strategic management, finance, accounting, managerial economics, marketing, operations management, and organizational behavior in the context of new venture development. The class serves as both a stand alone class and as a preparatory course to those interested in writing and venture implementation (the subject of the semester-long course, MGMT 806). Format: Lectures and case discussions

  • MGMT8020 - Innov, Chg and Ent

    Designed for students with a serious interest in entrepreneurship, this course will provide you with an advanced theoretical foundation and a set of practical tools for the management of startups and entrepreneurial teams in fast-changing and innovative environments. Building on the skills of MGMT 801, every class session is built around an experience where you have to put learning into practice, including the award-winning Looking Glass entrepreneurial simulation, role-playing exercises, and a variety of other games and simulations. The goal is to constantly challenge you to deal with entrepreneurial or innovative experiences, as you learn to navigate complex and changing environments on the fly, applying what you learned to a variety of scenarios. MGMT 802 is built to be challenging and will require a desire to deal with ambiguous and shifting circumstances. It is recommended students take MGMT 801 before enrolling in this course. Format: Lectures, discussion, interim reports, class participation, readings report, and presentations, and an innovation assessment in PowerPoint format.

  • MGMT8060 - Venture Implementation

    This advanced course on entrepreneurship focuses on developing a validated opportunity or concept into a venture that is ready for seed financing and/or launching the product or service. Participants in this course must previously have developed a validated opportunity, either in a previous course or through independent efforts. Students may participate as a team of up to three people. Ideally, participants are committed to pursuing their opportunity commercially, or at least to seriously explore that possibility. The course provides a practical guidance for developing the product or service, forming the entity, raising capital building the team, establishing partnerships, and sourcing professional services. After completing the course, you will be "pitch ready" - whether submitting to campus venture competitions or to outside investors. Most coursework is focused on applying concepts and frameworks to project tasks in developing the venture. Students must have successfully completed MGMT 8010 before enrolling in this course (or obtain the permission of the instructor). Format: Highly interactive Requirements: Class participation, interim assignments.

  • MGMT8900 - Advanced Study-Ind

  • MGMT8930 - Advanced Study-Emgt

  • WH2970 - Wh Industry Exploration

    WIEP features short-term courses that focus on various industries and feature visits to businesses, lectures, extracurricular activities, and networking opportunities with alumni. Students must apply online: https://undergrad-inside.wharton.upenn.edu/wiep/

Awards and Honors

  • Greif Research Impact Award, 2020
  • Lazaridis Institute Award for Best Paper in JBV, 2019
  • Outstanding Publication in Organizational Behavior, 2017
  • Schultze Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship, 2016-2019
  • McGraw-Hill/Academy of Management Innovation in Entrepreneurship Pedagogy Award, 2016
  • Reimagine Education Silver Award for MBA Education, 2015
  • AOM-TIM Emerging Scholar Award, 2015
  • AOM Careers Division Best Paper Award, 2014
  • The 40 Most Outstanding B-School Profs Under 40 In The World, 2014
  • Top 30 Influencers in Crowdfunding, 2014
  • Thinkers 50 Future Thinker Award Shortlist, 2013
  • Kauffman Junior Faculty Fellowship in Entrepreneurship Research, 2013
  • SMS Best Paper Award Nomination, 2012
  • Heizer Award for Best Dissertation in Entrepreneurship, Finalist, 2011
  • Teaching Commitment and Curricular Innovation Award, 2011
  • Graduate Management Council Ideas to Innovation Challenge, 3rd Place, 2011
  • American Library Association’s “Top Ten Business Books of 2009”, 2009
  • Kauffman Dissertation Fellow, 2007

In the News

Knowledge at Wharton

Wharton Stories

Miscellaneous

Gameography

Note: Credits are for primary game design. Game development provided by multiple organizations, including Stoneblade, Wharton Learning Lab, Wharton Interactive, Forio, and Lincoln Loop.

Ethan Mollick and Justin Gary (2018), The Breakthrough Game. A card/board game for 3-6 people that walks players through the scientific approach to developing new innovations.

Ethan Mollick and Sarah Toms (2018) ARC: Disruption. A Looking Glass/ARC simulation teaching strategy, crisis management, and team optimization.

Ethan Mollick (2016)  ARC: Entrepreneurship. A Looking Glass/ARC simulation teaching entrepreneurial management.

Ethan Mollick (2016)  IdeaMachine. Online student engagement tool for building interactive learning communities and applying active learning pedagogical techniques.

Ethan Mollick (2014) The Startup Game. Entrepreneurship simulation for 20-86 players, played by over 20,000 students from around the world.

Activity

Latest Research

Valentina Assenova and Ethan Mollick (Working), Tipping Points in Gender Representation: Evidence from the Startup Game.
All Research

In the News

Can Alternate Reality Courses Help Entrepreneurs Succeed?

Wharton Interactive founders Sarah Toms and Ethan Mollick explain how new alternate reality courses use online gaming to teach business and leadership lessons beyond the classroom.…Read More

Knowledge at Wharton - 2/7/2022
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Wharton Magazine

Exposing the Myths of Startup Culture
Wharton Magazine - 04/17/2020

Wharton Stories

Bringing the Wharton Experience to High Schoolers Around the World

Each year, hundreds of students travel to Philadelphia to participate in summer high school programs through Wharton’s Global Youth Program, where they take part in courses and activities focused on community-building, peer networking, and on-campus immersion. When Penn’s campus closed due to COVID-19 this summer, the Program had to pivot…

Wharton Stories - 10/02/2020
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