Noam Wasserman
Born 1970 · Age 55
American academic specializing in organizational behavior and entrepreneurship; former Harvard Business School faculty, founding director of USC's Founder Central Initiative, author of The Founder's Dilemmas and Life Is a Startup, and dean of Yeshiva University's Sy Syms School of Business (from May 2019).
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Life & Career Timeline
Graduated University of Pennsylvania (BSE & BS)
Received a BSE in Computer Science & Engineering and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Early career — venture capital role in Boston (approx.)
Worked as a venture capitalist at a firm in Boston (dates not precisely specified; described as pre-Harvard appointment).
Management consulting role — founded Groupware Practice (approx.)
Served as Principal and Practice Manager at a management-consulting firm near Washington, D.C., where he founded and led the Groupware Practice (exact years not specified).
MBA, Harvard Business School (Baker Scholar)
Received an MBA from Harvard Business School and graduated with distinction as a Baker Scholar.
Master's degree in Sociology, Harvard GSAS
Received a master's degree in sociology from Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
PhD in Organizational Behavior, Harvard Business School
Completed PhD in organizational behavior at HBS.
Joined Harvard Business School as Assistant Professor
Began appointment as assistant professor of business administration at Harvard Business School (served 2003–2008).
Promoted to Associate Professor, HBS
Promoted from assistant professor to associate professor of business administration at Harvard Business School (served as associate professor 2008–2016).
Academy of Management Award for 'Founders’ Dilemmas' course
Received the Innovation in Entrepreneurship Pedagogy Award from the Academy of Management for his HBS course 'Founders’ Dilemmas'.
Published 'The Founder's Dilemmas' (book)
Published The Founder's Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup, based on data assembled on 10,000 founders from 3,500 start-ups.
The Founder's Dilemmas becomes Amazon #1 bestseller (Management)
The Founder's Dilemmas became an Amazon #1 bestseller in Management and performed strongly on Strategy lists for years.
Major media coverage for 'Founder's Dilemmas'
Featured and reviewed in outlets including Forbes and Family Business Review; coverage raised profile of his research on founders' decisions.
Visiting Associate Professor at Stanford
Served as a visiting associate professor at Stanford University (taught Founder’s Dilemmas at Stanford Engineering).
Joined University of Southern California as Professor of Clinical Entrepreneurship
Became a professor of clinical entrepreneurship at USC and the inaugural holder of the Lemann Chair in Entrepreneurship.
Founded USC Founder Central Initiative (Founding Director)
Became founding director of USC's Founder Central Initiative to research early decisions by founders and provide education; initiative later grew substantially.
Founder Central initiative valued/grown to $8M center (milestone)
USC's Founder Central initiative, which Wasserman founded and led, was described as an $8 million center (indicates funding/endowment/operational scale reached).
Named a 'Favorite Professor' by Poets&Quants
Included in Poets&Quants’ 'Favorite Professors of Business Majors' list.
Axiom Business Book Awards — Gold Award for 'Life Is a Startup'
Life Is a Startup won the Gold Award from the Axiom Business Book Awards in the Success / Motivation / Coaching category.
Published 'Life Is a Startup' (Stanford Univ. Press)
Released second book, Life Is a Startup: What Founders Can Teach Us about Making Choices and Managing Change (Stanford University Press).
Announced as Dean of Yeshiva University's Sy Syms School of Business
Announcement made that Wasserman would become dean of Sy Syms School of Business (Yeshiva University).
Assumed Office as Dean, Sy Syms School of Business (Yeshiva University)
Took effect as dean in May 2019; began leading strategic planning and program development at Sy Syms.
Siyum HaShas — Chanukah Concert lecture
Delivered Gemara portion (Berachot, Nidah) as speaker at the 2019 YU Chanukah Concert Siyum HaShas.
Created five Summer Internship Initiatives (COVID response)
Developed five major Summer Initiatives to provide substantive summer experiences for students and support nonprofits/startups impacted by the crisis.
Led Sy Syms rapid pivot to fully online amid COVID-19
In his second semester as dean, led the rapid transition of Sy Syms to fully online instruction in 9 days after the coronavirus outbreak.
Led strategic planning and school improvements at Sy Syms (ongoing)
Over first years as dean led development of new MBA program, undergraduate curriculum revamp, faculty strengthening, record enrollments and job outcomes (multi-year effort).
Delivered 'In Memory of Donny Morris' lecture at YU Graduation Awards Dinner
Spoke at YU event, delivering Gemara content and remarks at awards dinner.
Delivered 'Reflecting on Nisyonos' lecture at YU
Spoke at YU Wilf Campus on themes including Thanksgiving, Mussar and Tefillah.
Increased student dual-major rate from 54% to 74%
Under his leadership increased the percent of students doing dual majors from 54% to 74%.
Spoke at 'Re-Founding Judaism: Siyum HaShas' (100th anniversary of Daf Yomi)
Delivered a lecture (34 minutes) marking the 100th anniversary of Daf Yomi on Sep 12, 2023.
Undergraduate Honors enrollment growth (36%)
As dean, executed plan that resulted in 36% growth in Honors Program enrollment (measured over his first four years).
Improved 6-month job placement metric from ~90% to 97%
Team effort led to increase in 6-month placement metric from about 90% to 97% for Sy Syms graduates.
Grew MBA enrollment 4X (over first two years of new MBA program)
Oversaw development of a new online MBA program and grew MBA enrollment by 4X over its first two years.
Increased donor counts dramatically (80–90% annual growth)
As dean increased number of donors by approximately 80–90% each year and attracted major gifts for programs like Honors and Bloomberg Lab.
Ongoing scholarly publications and media contributions
Continued publishing research in top academic journals and writing features/columns for Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Inc.
Delivered 'Insights for Couples and Chavrusas from Founding Teams' (YU)
Spoke at YU Wilf Campus; lecture linked founder-team lessons to couple relationships.
Continued community, board and advisory roles (ongoing)
Has served on advisory boards (Inc. magazine, Kauffman Foundation), founding board roles at USC (iORB), and local school boards in Boston; remains active in academic and community governance.
Personal: married with large family and ongoing religious study
Reported married with eight children (and multiple grandchildren); engaged in Daf Yomi cycle study; lives/lived in Brookline, MA and later New York while dean.
Lecture: 'Closing Crescendos in Shas' (Ramaz) posted
Delivered a 47-minute lecture about Siyums (posted Apr 2, 2025).
Podcast: 'How easy is it to “hit it big”?' (public talk)
Recorded a 2h44m podcast discussing startup success and founders' pitfalls (posted May 18, 2025 on Yutorah).
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