Jo Tango
Senior Lecturer of Business Administration
Senior Lecturer of Business Administration
Jo Tango helps teach "The Entrepreneurial Manager" (TEM), a required course for all nearly 1,000 first-year students and of which he is co-course head. He revamped and helps teach an elective course on Venture Capital and Private Equity in which 180 students enroll. Jo 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 helps teach "The Entrepreneurial Manager" (TEM), a required course for all nearly 1,000 first-year students and of which he is co-course head. He revamped and helps teach an elective course on Venture Capital and Private Equity in which 180 students enroll. Jo 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
-
- Tango, Jo, Christina Wallace, Srimayi Mylavarapu, and Johnson Elugbadebo. "Sequoia Capital." Harvard Business School Case 824-212, June 2024. (Revised June 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. 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 2024." Harvard Business School Course Overview Note 823-071, November 2022. (Revised December 2023.) 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 June 2024.) View Details
- Tango, Jo, and Alys Ferragamo. "3G Capital." Harvard Business School Case 823-010, July 2022. (Revised November 2023.) 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. 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 May 2021.) View Details
- Additional Information
-
More about Jo
- Areas of Interest
- In The News
-