J. Daniel Kim

J. Daniel Kim is an Assistant Professor of Management at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where he teaches MBA and PhD courses on entrepreneurship and innovation. His research focuses on high-growth entrepreneurship, venture scaling, strategic human capital, mergers and acquisitions, innovation, and labor markets.

• PhD - MIT Sloan School of Management
• BA - Dartmouth College

His research explores:

• Startup hiring challenges and firm-driven search strategies
• Timing and risks of venture scaling
• Post-acquisition employee retention patterns
• Founder impact on organizational change
• Immigrant founder contributions to entrepreneurship

Key article trends show:

• Focus on talent dynamics in high-growth firms
• Analysis of organizational antecedents in acquisitions
• Quantitative approaches using population-level data
• Interdisciplinary connections between entrepreneurship, strategy, and economics
• Debunking myths about founder demographics
• Linkage between labor market mechanisms and startup performance

Scientific recognition includes:

• Multiple Teaching Excellence Awards at Wharton (2024-2020)
• Best Paper Prize from Strategic Management Society (2020)
• Kauffman Dissertation Fellowship (2017)
• MIT Sloan Doctoral Thesis Prize (2019)

Prof. Kim serves as an economist with the United States Census Bureau and has published in top journals including Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, and American Economic Review: Insights. His work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Financial Times.