Laura Huang
MBA Class of 1954 Associate Professor of Business Administration
MBA Class of 1954 Associate Professor of Business Administration
Laura Huang is an associate professor of business administration in the Organizational Behavior Unit. Prior to joining HBS, she was an assistant professor of management at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Professor Huang’s research examines early-stage entrepreneurship, and the role of interpersonal relationships and implicit factors in the investment decisions of financiers such as angel investors and VCs. Her work studies the subtle signals and cues that often impact the behavioral perceptions of investors, which can lead to implicit bias in the investing process. Her research has been published in several academic journals including the Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and has also been featured in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, and Nature. She has won a number of awards for her research, and was named one of the 40 Best Business School Professors Under the Age of 40 by Poets & Quants.
Professor Huang earned a PhD in management from the University of California, Irvine; an MBA from INSEAD; and an MS and BSE in electrical engineering, both from Duke University. Before entering academia, she held positions in investment banking, consulting, and general management, for organizations such as Standard Chartered Bank, IBM Global Services, and Johnson & Johnson, in a variety of global locations. She has also served as an advisor to several start-ups in the US, Europe, Southeast Asia, and China.
Professor Huang is the author of Edge: Turning Adversity into Advantage (Portfolio-Penguin, Jan 2020).
- Featured Work
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When Hard Work Alone Is Not Enough, Find Your EdgeHaving an edge is about gaining an advantage, but it goes beyond just advantage. It's about recognizing that others will have their own perceptions about us, right or wrong. When you recognize the power in those perceptions and flip them in your favor, you create an edge--and your hard work works harder for you.
- Books
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- Huang, Laura. Edge: Turning Adversity into Advantage. New York: Portfolio/Penguin, 2020. View Details
- Journal Articles
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- Greenwood, Brad N., Rachel R. Hardeman, Laura Huang, and Aaron Sojourner. "Physician–patient Racial Concordance and Disparities in Birthing Mortality for Newborns." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117, no. 35 (September 1, 2020): 21194–21200. View Details
- Huang, Laura, Priyanka D. Joshi, Cheryl J. Wakslak, and Andy Wu. "Sizing Up Entrepreneurial Potential: Gender Differences in Communication and Investor Perceptions of Long-Term Growth and Scalability." Academy of Management Journal 64, no. 3 (June 2021): 716–740. View Details
- Gino, Francesca, Ovul Sezer, and Laura Huang. "To Be or Not to Be Your Authentic Self? Catering to Others' Expectations and Interests Hinders Performance." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 158 (May 2020): 83–100. View Details
- Brooks, Alison Wood, Karen Huang, Nicole Abi-Esber, Ryan W. Buell, Laura Huang, and Brian Hall. "Mitigating Malicious Envy: Why Successful Individuals Should Reveal Their Failures." Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 148, no. 4 (April 2019): 667–687. View Details
- Gray, Kurt, Stephen Anderson, Eric Evan Chen, John Michael Kelly, Michael S. Christian, John Patrick, Laura Huang, Yoed N. Kenett, and Kevin Lewis. "'Forward Flow': A New Measure to Quantify Free Thought and Predict Creativity." American Psychologist 74, no. 5 (July 2019): 539–554. View Details
- Joshi, Priyanka D., Cheryl J. Wakslak, Gil Appel, and Laura Huang. "Gender Differences in Communicative Abstraction." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 118, no. 3 (March 2020): 417–435. View Details
- John, Leslie, Martha Jeong, Francesca Gino, and Laura Huang. "The Self-Presentational Consequences of Upholding One's Stance in Spite of the Evidence." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 154 (September 2019): 1–14. View Details
- Schilke, Oliver, and Laura Huang. "Worthy of Swift Trust? How Brief Interpersonal Contact Affects Trust Accuracy." Journal of Applied Psychology 103, no. 11 (November 2018): 1181–1197. View Details
- Huang, Laura. "The Role of Investor Gut Feel in Managing Complexity and Extreme Risk." Academy of Management Journal 61, no. 5 (October 2018): 1821–1847. View Details
- Greenwood, Brad, Seth Carnahan, and Laura Huang. "Patient–Physician Gender Concordance and Increased Mortality Among Female Heart Attack Patients." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115, no. 34 (August 21, 2018). View Details
- Lee, Matthew, and Laura Huang. "Gender Bias, Social Impact Framing, and Evaluation of Entrepreneurial Ventures." Organization Science 29, no. 1 (January–February 2018): 1–16. View Details
- Kanze, Dana, Laura Huang, Mark Conley, and E. Tory Higgins. "We Ask Men to Win & Women Not to Lose: Closing the Gender Gap in Startup Funding." Academy of Management Journal 61, no. 2 (April 2018): 586–614. View Details
- Huang, Laura, and Andrew P. Knight. "Resources and Relationships in Entrepreneurship: An Exchange Theory of the Development and Effects of the Entrepreneur-Investor Relationship." Academy of Management Review 42, no. 1 (January 2017): 80–102. View Details
- Huang, Laura, Cristina B. Gibson, Bradley L. Kirkman, and Debra L. Shapiro. "When Is Traditionalism an Asset and When Is It a Liability for Team Innovation? A Two-Study Empirical Examination." Journal of International Business Studies 48, no. 6 (August 2017): 693–715. View Details
- Cheng, Miao, Anand Sriramulu, Sudarshan Muralidhar, Boon Thau Loo, Laura Huang, and Po-Ling Loh. "Collection, Exploration and Analysis of Crowdfunding Social Networks." Proceedings of the International Workshop on Exploratory Search in Databases and the Web 3rd (2016): 25–30. View Details
- Huang, Laura, and Jone L. Pearce. "Managing the Unknowable: The Effectiveness of Early-stage Investor Gut Feel in Entrepreneurial Investment Decisions." Administrative Science Quarterly 60, no. 4 (December 2015): 634–670. View Details
- Gibson, Cristina B., Laura Huang, Bradley L. Kirkman, and Debra L. Shapiro. "Where Global and Virtual Meet: The Value of Examining the Intersection of These Elements in Twenty-First-Century Teams." Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior 1 (2014): 217–244. View Details
- Brooks, Alison Wood, Laura Huang, Sarah Kearney, and Fiona Murray. "Investors Prefer Entrepreneurial Ventures Pitched by Attractive Men." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111, no. 12 (March 25, 2014): 4427–4431. View Details
- Huang, Laura, Marcia Frideger, and Jone L. Pearce. "Political Skill: Explaining the Effects of Nonnative Accent on Managerial Hiring and Entrepreneurial Investment Decisions." Journal of Applied Psychology 98, no. 6 (November 2013): 1005–1017. View Details
- Pearce, Jone L., and Laura Huang. "The Decreasing Value of Our Research to Management Education." Academy of Management Learning & Education 11, no. 2 (June 2012): 247–262. View Details
- Pearce, Jone L., and Laura Huang. "Toward an Understanding of What Actionable Research Is." Academy of Management Learning & Education 11, no. 2 (June 2012): 300–301. View Details
- Klein, Jill G., and Laura Huang. "After All Is Lost: Meeting the Material Needs of Adolescent Disaster Survivors." Journal of Public Policy & Marketing 26, no. 1 (Spring 2007): 54–59. View Details
- Cases and Teaching Materials
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- Huang, Laura, and Katie LaMattina. "Tensions at SearchLight Cures." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 422-092, May 2022. View Details
- Huang, Laura, and Katie LaMattina. "TNL Media Group ." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 422-078, April 2022. View Details
- Huang, Laura, and Katie LaMattina. "TNL Media Group." Harvard Business School Case 422-010, April 2022. View Details
- Huang, Laura, and Sarah Mehta. "Tensions at SearchLight Cures." Harvard Business School Case 422-059, March 2022. View Details
- Huang, Laura, Katie LaMattina, and Charanya Kannan. "Boba Guys." Harvard Business School Case 422-062, March 2022. View Details
- Huang, Laura, and Katie LaMattina. "Boba Guys." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 422-063, March 2022. (Revised May 2022.) View Details
- Huang, Laura, and Katie LaMattina. "Ring Concierge: Navigating and Disrupting the Jewelry Industry." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 422-061, February 2022. View Details
- Huang, Laura, Zoe Otedola, and Katie LaMattina. "Ring Concierge: Navigating and Disrupting the Jewelry Industry." Harvard Business School Case 421-056, April 2021. (Revised February 2022.) View Details
- Huang, Laura, Maximilian Enthoven, Alex Murray, and Erik Hofmann. "modum.io (B): Bidding Farewell to Crypto." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 421-069, March 2021. View Details
- Huang, Laura, Maximilian Enthoven, Alex Murray, and Erik Hofmann. "modum.io (B): Bidding Farewell to Crypto." Harvard Business School Supplement 421-068, March 2021. View Details
- Huang, Laura, and Elizabeth Jiang. "Career Karma: Growth in a Time of Global Uncertainty (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 420-127, June 2020. View Details
- Huang, Laura, and Elizabeth Jiang. "Career Karma: Growth in a Time of Global Uncertainty (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 420-125, June 2020. View Details
- Huang, Laura, Raphael Amit, and Xu Han. "CredEx Fintech: Business Model Transformation During the Digital Era." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 420-123, June 2020. View Details
- Huang, Laura, Elizabeth Jiang, and Brandon Yu. "Career Karma: Growth in a Time of Global Uncertainty (A)." Harvard Business School Case 420-121, June 2020. View Details
- Huang, Laura, and Elizabeth Jiang. "Gary Vaynerchuk: #GaryVee." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 520-106, April 2020. View Details
- Huang, Laura, Raphael Amit, and Xu Han. "CredEx Fintech: Business Model Transformation During the Digital Era." Harvard Business School Case 420-080, April 2020. (Revised August 2020.) View Details
- Huang, Laura, and Sarah Mehta. "Gary Vaynerchuk: #GaryVee." Harvard Business School Case 420-083, December 2019. View Details
- Huang, Laura, Dominik Roeck, Alex Murray, and Erik Hofmann. "modum.io: Funding a Blockchain-Based Start-Up’s Supply Chain Solution." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 420-007, January 2020. View Details
- Huang, Laura, Dominik Roeck, Alex Murray, and Erik Hofmann. "modum.io: Funding a Blockchain-Based Start-Up's Supply Chain Solution." Harvard Business School Case 420-006, December 2019. View Details
- Huang, Laura, and Andy Wu. "Boxed." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 720-399, September 2019. View Details
- Huang, Laura. "Arlan Hamilton and Backstage Capital." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 420-010, July 2019. View Details
- Huang, Laura, Andy Wu, and Jiayi Bao. "Boxed." Harvard Business School Case 719-496, April 2019. View Details
- Huang, Laura, and Sarah Mehta. "Arlan Hamilton and Backstage Capital." Harvard Business School Case 419-029, October 2018. (Revised October 2019.) View Details
- Wu, Andy, and Laura Huang. "Cotopaxi: Managing Growth for Good - Video Supplement." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 717-811, June 2017. View Details
- Wu, Andy, and Laura Huang. "Cotopaxi: Managing Growth for Good." Harvard Business School Case 717-488, May 2017. (Revised November 2017.) View Details
- Wu, Andy, and Laura Huang. "Cotopaxi: Managing Growth for Good." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 718-416, August 2017. View Details
- Other Publications and Materials
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- Huang, Laura, and Ryan Yu. "How to (Actually) Change Someone's Mind." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (July 31, 2020). View Details
- Lumineau, Fabrice, Wenqian Wang, Oliver Schilke, and Laura Huang. "How Blockchain Can Simplify Partnerships." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (April 9, 2021). View Details
- Huang, Laura. "Constraints Don't Have to Be Constraining." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (January 28, 2020). View Details
- Huang, Laura. "When It's OK to Trust Your Gut on a Big Decision." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (October 22, 2019). View Details
- Lee, Matthew, and Laura Huang. "Women Entrepreneurs Are More Likely to Get Funding If They Emphasize Their Social Mission." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (March 7, 2018). View Details
- Huang, Laura, Andy Wu, Min Ju Lee, Jiayi Bao, Marianne Hudson, and Elaine Bolle. "The American Angel: The First In-Depth Report on the Demographics and Investing Activity of Individual American Angel Investors." Report, Overland Park, KS, November 2017. View Details
- Jeong, Martha, Leslie K. John, Francesca Gino, and Laura Huang. "Research: Changing Your Mind Makes You Seem Intelligent." Harvard Business Review (website) (September 11, 2019). View Details
- Kanze, Dana, Laura Huang, Mark Conley, and E. Tory Higgins. "Male and Female Entrepreneurs Get Asked Different Questions by VCs —and It Affects How Much Funding They Get." Harvard Business Review (website) (June 27, 2017). View Details
- Pearce, Jone L., and Laura Huang. "Gut Feeling Plays an Important Role in Early-Stage Investors' Decisions." LSE Business Review (May 11, 2016). View Details
- Huang, Laura, Marcia Frideger, and Jone L. Pearce. "How Non-Native Speakers Can Crack the Glass Ceiling." Harvard Business Review 92, no. 6 (June 2014): 27–28. View Details
- Autry, Greg, Laura Huang, and Jeff Foust. "An Analysis of the Competitive Advantage of the United States of America in Commercial Human Orbital Spaceflight Markets." New Space 2, no. 2 (2014): 83–110. View Details
- Research Summary
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Professor Huang examines the micro-foundations of entrepreneurship: the individual-level decision-making processes that influence entrepreneurs’ ability to acquire resources that they need, yet lack, especially financial capital. Deploying a variety of methods from quantitative to qualitative, in a range of settings from the field to simulations to the laboratory, she explores questions about how and why investors rely on interpersonal relationships and implicit signals, perceptions, and behavioral cues, even when other sources of objective information (e.g., market data) are available. Her work contributes to larger areas of scholarship such as organizational decision making, uncertainty and judgment, and interpersonal bias; it also addresses practical implications for entrepreneurs pitching their start-ups, for investors seeking optimal investment decisions, and for the start-up ecosystem as a whole. In her work, she has examined the process through which relationships between entrepreneurs and investors develop and influence the growth of new ventures. She has also empirically examined, and identified, how “gut feel” acts as a key determinant in entrepreneurial decision-making, demonstrating that under appropriate conditions, and contrary to received wisdom, an investor’s gut feel can effectively predict profitable entrepreneurial investments. Huang has also examined some of the consequences of these phenomena by demonstrating how they can drive the potential for implicit bias in investors’ decisions. She has published work on the role that gender, accent, word choice, and physical attractiveness play in investors’ evaluations of entrepreneurs’ pitches, highlighting how perceptions and attributions often impact investment decisions, sometimes unknowingly.
- Awards & Honors
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Winner of the 2020 TUM Research Excellence Award in Innovation and Leadership from Technische Universität München and the Peter Pribilla Foundation.Winner of the 2019 Academy of Management Journal Best Article for "We Ask Men to Win & Women Not to Lose: Closing the Gender Gap in Startup Funding" (April 2018) with Dana Kanze, Mark Conley, and E. Tory Higgins.Winner of the 2019 Responsible Research in Management Award from the Community for Responsible Research in Business and Management (RRBM) for "Gender Bias, Social Impact Framing, and Evaluation of Entrepreneurial Ventures" (Organization Science, 2018) with Matthew Lee.Winner of the 2018 Emerging Scholar Award from the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management.Nominated for the Helen Kardon Moss Anvil Award for Outstanding Teaching in the Wharton MBA program in 2017.Awarded the 2016 Kauffman Foundation Junior Faculty Fellowship in Entrepreneurship Research.Included as one of the “40 Under 40 Most Outstanding MBA Professors” by Poets & Quants in 2016.Selected for the American Angel Project by the Angel Capital Association for 2016–2017.Received a Kauffman Foundation Grant for Research in Women’s Entrepreneurship for 2015–2017.Received a Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research Grant for 2015–2016.Received a Mack Institute Research Fellowship from the William and Phyllis Mack Institute for Innovation Management at the Wharton School for 2015–2016.Recipient of a 2015–2015 Teaching Commitment and Curricular Innovation Award from the Wharton School.Received a grant from the INSEAD-Wharton Alliance Center for Global Research & Education for 2014–2015.Recipient of a Wharton Social Impact Initiative Grant for 2014–2015.Received a Mack Institute Research Fellowship from the William and Phyllis Mack Institute for Innovation Management at the Wharton School for 2014–2015 with Anoop Menon.Winner of the 2013 Heizer Award for Best Dissertation in Entrepreneurship for “A Test of the Impact of Gut Feel on Entrepreneurial Investment Decisions” (Ph.D. Diss. University of California at Irvine, 2012).Winner of the 2013 Best Dissertation Award from the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management for “A Test of the Impact of Gut Feel on Entrepreneurial Investment Decisions” (Ph.D. Diss. University of California at Irvine, 2012).Recipient of a Dean's Research Fund Award from the Wharton School in 2013.Finalist for the 2013 Academy of Management Learning and Education (AMLE) Outstanding Article of the Year for “The Decreasing Value of Our Research to Management Education” (Academy of Management Learning & Education, 2012) with J. L. Pearce.Awarded a 2012 Public Impact Distinguished Fellowship from the University of California at Irvine.Recipient of a Ray Watson Doctoral Fellowship in 2011.Recipient of a 2011 Graduate Student Fellowship from the Center for Organizational Research at University of California at Irvine.Recipient of a 2008 University of California Regents Fellowship.
- Additional Information
- Areas of Interest