Paul A. Gompers

Paul A. Gompers is a Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, specializing in financial issues related to start-up, high growth, and newly public companies. He holds appointments in both Finance and Entrepreneurial Management. Gompers received his A.B. summa cum laude in biology from Harvard College in 1987, followed by an M.Sc. in economics from Oxford University on a Marshall Fellowship, and a Ph.D. in Business Economics from Harvard University in 1993. He spent two years as an Assistant Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business, where he created a course on Entrepreneurial Finance and Management. His research focuses on private equity funds, financing of private firms, and performance evaluation of newly public companies. He also teaches in HBS Executive Education and is a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research's Corporate Finance Program.

Paul Gompers is a scholar specializing in Venture Capital, Private Equity, Corporate Governance, and Entrepreneurial Finance. His research explores the dynamics of venture capital cycles, the impact of institutional investors on equity prices, and the role of corporate governance in shaping firm performance. Gompers investigates how venture capital firms make decisions, the factors influencing private equity valuations, and the long-term underperformance of initial public offerings. His work also examines dual-class firms, board structures, and the relationship between public markets and venture capital investment cycles. Gompers' research provides insights into the mechanisms driving entrepreneurial finance and the strategic implications of corporate governance structures.