Innovation Financing, Venture Capital, Angel Investments, Innovation Ecosystems

Corporate Finance, Financial Decision Making

At Stanford, Professor Strebulaev teaches at the MBA, MSx, PhD, and executive education programs. He developed a course on Angel and Venture Capital and Decision Making that he has been teaching for the past several years. Ilya has been awarded the MBA Distinguished Teaching Award and the Sloan Teaching Excellence Award at Stanford as well as the inaugural Masters in Management Best Teacher Award at the London Business School. Professor Strebulaev has also led many workshops and executive sessions on new innovation trends, venture capital, the ecosystem of Silicon Valley, corporate innovation, and strategic decision making for senior business and government leaders around the world.

Ilya A. Strebulaev is the David S. Lobel Professor of Private Equity and Professor of Finance at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, where he has been a faculty member since 2004, and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He also is the founder and director of the Stanford GSB Venture Capital Initiative. He graduated from the London Business School with a doctorate in Finance. He also holds degrees from Lomonosov Moscow State University (BSc Economics) and the New Economic School, Moscow (MA Economics).

Professor Strebulaev is an expert in corporate finance, venture and angel capital, innovation financing, corporate innovation, and financial decision-making. His work has been widely published in leading academic journals, including the Journal of Finance, the Review of Financial Studies, and the Journal of Financial Economics. Ilya has been awarded a number of prestigious academic awards, including the First Paper Prize of the Brattle Award for the best corporate paper published in the Journal of Finance, the Fama-DFA Prize for the best asset pricing paper published in the Journal of Financial Economics, and the Trefftzs Award by the Western Finance Association. His research has also been featured in a variety of media, including New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

His most recent research has examined many aspects of the venture capital industry. For example, in the largest ever survey of VCs to date, he and his co-authors analyze all the aspects of decision-making by venture capitalists. As another example, in analyzing the valuation of highly valued VC-backed companies (called “unicorns”), he found that these companies on average are overvalued by 50% and that many of the so-called unicorns lose their unicorn status once their fair value is taken into consideration.

Ilya teaches at the MBA, MSx, PhD, and executive education programs, and has been awarded the Stanford MBA Distinguished Teaching Award, the Sloan Teaching Excellence Award, as well as the inaugural Masters in Management Best Teacher Award at the London Business School. He developed an MBA-level course on Angel and Venture Capital that he has been teaching for the past several years. The course enables the students to study many aspects of innovation financing at various stages, including decision making, attracting venture and angel investments, negotiating contractual terms, valuing VC-backed companies, and analyzing the performance of venture capital funds.

Professor Strebulaev has also led many workshops and executive sessions on new innovation trends, venture capital, the ecosystem of Silicon Valley, corporate innovation, and strategic decision making for senior business and government leaders around the world. He also has been consulting companies and investors around the world on valuation of VC-backed companies, selection of VC investments and managers, and portfolio allocation. He also serves as an expert witness in litigation matters.

When not teaching or doing research, Ilya enjoys spending time with his family, reading, traveling, listening to classical music, and appreciating fine wine and art.

PhD in Finance, London Business School, 2004

MA, New Economic School, 1999

BSc, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 1997

At Stanford University since 2004

Dhirubhai Ambani Faculty Fellow in Entrepreneurship for 2014-2015

Shanahan Family Faculty Scholar for 2013-2014

The Sloan Teaching Excellence Award, Stanford, 2013

First Place, Fama-DFA Prize for Best Paper, Journal of Financial Economics, 2012

The Masters in Management Inaugural Best Teacher Award, London Business School, 2010

The MBA Distinguished Teacher Award, Stanford, 2009

First Paper Prize, Brattle Award for Best Paper, Journal of Finance, 2007

The Trefftzs Award for the Best Student Paper, WFA, 2004

Award for Best Paper, Dimitris B. Chorafas Foundation, 2004