Jo Tango
MBA Class of 1962 Senior Lecturer of Business Administration
MBA Class of 1962 Senior Lecturer of Business Administration
Jo Tango is the MBA Class of 1962 Senior Lecturer of Business Administration. He helps teach "The Entrepreneurial Manager" (TEM), a required course for all 900 first-year students and of which he is co-course head. Jo revamped and helps teach an elective course on Venture Capital and Private Equity in which 180 students enroll. He also serves as a Section Chair. He founded early-stage venture capital firm Kepha Partners and has been a venture capital investor since 1998.
Jo Tango is the MBA Class of 1962 Senior Lecturer of Business Administration. He helps teach "The Entrepreneurial Manager" (TEM), a required course for all 900 first-year students and of which he is co-course head. Jo revamped and helps teach an elective course on Venture Capital and Private Equity in which 180 students enroll. He also serves as a Section Chair. He founded early-stage venture capital firm Kepha Partners and has been a venture capital investor since 1998.
VC experience: An investor in three exited Unicorns. A founding or first institutional investor in Azuki Systems (Ericsson), Carbon Black (NASDAQ: CBLK; sale to VMware), ExaGrid (Lead Edge Capital), Goby (NAVTEQ), Mavrck, Paradigm4, StreamBase Systems (TIBCO), Vertica Systems (Hewlett-Packard), Virtual Iron (Oracle), and Volt Active Data; other investments include Ask Jeeves (NASDAQ: ASKJ), Digital Market (Agile Software), and NextCard (NASDAQ: NXCD). Previously at Highland Capital Partners (General Partner).
Other: Bain & Company (strategy consulting in the U.S., Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand), Wasserstein Perella (M&A), Bain Capital (private equity), Salomon Brothers (equity research).
Education: Yale College (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa), Harvard Business School (Baker Scholar).
Current and prior volunteer work: Harvard Business School Alumni Board (Executive Committee, Lifelong Learning Working Group Co-Chair, Nominations Committee), Harvard Business School class reunions (Co-Chair of 5th, 10th, 15th, 25th, and 30th), The Roxbury Latin School (Trustee, Parents' Fund Chair, Development Committee Co-Chair), New England Venture Capital Association (Board), NECINA (Board), Boston Archdiocese Clergy Retirement Trust (Investment Committee).
Personal: Jo and his family emigrated from Indonesia with a few suitcases and $1,500. His personal blog is here. Details on his family's angel program to "leverage capitalism for altruism" are here.
- Cases and Teaching Materials
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- Tango, Jo, Christina Wallace, Srimayi Mylavarapu, and Johnson Elugbadebo. "Sequoia Capital." Harvard Business School Case 824-212, June 2024. (Revised September 2024.) View Details
- Tango, Jo, and Christina Wallace. "Venture Capital and Private Equity Funds: A Primer." Harvard Business School Technical Note 824-123, January 2024. View Details
- Wallace, Christina, and Jo Tango. "To Found or to Cofound? That is the Question." Harvard Business School Case 824-034, September 2023. (Revised January 2025.) View Details
- Wallace, Christina, Jo Tango, and Johnson Elugbadebo. "Tenkara Outfitters." Harvard Business School Spreadsheet Supplement 824-701, August 2023. View Details
- Wallace, Christina, Jo Tango, and Johnson Elugbadebo. "Tenkara Outfitters." Harvard Business School Case 824-003, August 2023. View Details
- Tango, Jo, and Christina Wallace. "DexAI." Harvard Business School Case 824-030, August 2023. (Revised February 2024.) View Details
- Wallace, Christina, and Jo Tango. "The Entrepreneurial Manager: Spring 2025." Harvard Business School Course Overview Note 823-071, November 2022. (Revised December 2024.) View Details
- Tango, Jo, and Alys Ferragamo. "Venture Capital at a Crossroads." Harvard Business School Technical Note 823-122, May 2023. View Details
- Tango, Jo, and Alys Ferragamo. "Venture Capital Firms: What Drives Success?" Harvard Business School Technical Note 823-115, April 2023. View Details
- Tango, Jo, and Alys Ferragamo. "Technical Note: The Traits of Entrepreneurs." Harvard Business School Technical Note 823-099, March 2023. (Revised May 2023.) View Details
- Rodríguez Arregui, Álvaro, and Jo Tango. "SAFE Notes: An Introduction." Harvard Business School Technical Note 823-026, November 2022. (Revised September 2023.) View Details
- Tango, Jo, and Alys Ferragamo. "Altos Ventures (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 823-036, August 2022. (Revised November 2022.) View Details
- Tango, Jo, and Alys Ferragamo. "Altos Ventures (A)." Harvard Business School Case 823-035, August 2022. (Revised November 2022.) View Details
- Tango, Jo, and Alys Ferragamo. "Broadway Angels (2022)." Harvard Business School Supplement 823-001, August 2022. View Details
- Vrattos, William, Jo Tango, and Alys Ferragamo. "York Capital and Enovix." Harvard Business School Case 223-006, July 2022. (Revised September 2024.) View Details
- Tango, Jo, and Alys Ferragamo. "3G Capital." Harvard Business School Case 823-010, July 2022. (Revised October 2024.) View Details
- Tango, Jo, and Alys Ferragamo. "Individual FoodService, Kelso, and Ken Sweder." Harvard Business School Case 822-144, June 2022. (Revised November 2023.) View Details
- Tango, Jo, and Alys Ferragamo. "Platinum Capital." Harvard Business School Case 822-134, June 2022. (Revised November 2023.) View Details
- Tango, Jo, and Alys Ferragamo. "Founder Collective." Harvard Business School Case 822-129, May 2022. (Revised December 2023.) View Details
- Tango, Jo, and Alys Ferragamo. "Pear Venture Capital." Harvard Business School Case 822-097, April 2022. View Details
- Tango, Jo, and Alys Ferragamo. "Aldrich Capital Partners." Harvard Business School Case 822-090, March 2022. (Revised November 2024.) View Details
- Tango, Jo, and Alys Ferragamo. "Bessemer Venture Partners: Century Fund." Harvard Business School Case 822-009, July 2021. View Details
- Tango, Jo, and Alys Ferragamo. "KKR." Harvard Business School Case 822-017, August 2021. (Revised April 2022.) View Details
- Tango, Jo, and Alys Ferragamo. "Apax Digital." Harvard Business School Case 822-016, August 2021. View Details
- Tango, Jo, and Alys Ferragamo. "Kevin D. Johnson: To Be a Venture Capitalist or an Operator?" Harvard Business School Case 822-012, July 2021. View Details
- Lerner, Josh, Jo Tango, and Alys Ferragamo. "Yale Investments Office: November 2020." Harvard Business School Case 821-074, March 2021. View Details
- Tango, Jo. "NextView Ventures." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 821-078, January 2021. (Revised May 2021.) View Details
- Tango, Jo, and Nori Gerardo Lietz. "NextView Ventures." Harvard Business School Case 821-031, August 2020. (Revised November 2024.) View Details
- Additional Information
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More about Jo
- Areas of Interest
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