Nina Teng

Nina Teng is a Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management for the 2025-2026 academic year and a PhD candidate in Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School. She holds a PhD in Transport Studies from the University of Oxford, an MPA in International Development from Harvard University, an MA in Education Leadership from Columbia University, and a BSE in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

Her educational background includes:

• PhD in Transport Studies, University of Oxford
• MPA in International Development, Harvard University
• MA in Education Leadership, Columbia University
• BSE in Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania

Nina Teng's research focuses on how organizations attract and evaluate talent under uncertainty, particularly examining how hiring signals and compensation structures shape labor markets, identity, and team formation. Her work introduces the concept of "symbolic sorting" to explain how identical equity compensation offers—framed as investment versus co-ownership—elicit divergent candidate responses affecting compensation requests and organizational fit. She investigates the dual role of compensation practices as both economic incentives and symbolic signals that structure labor market sorting before material outcomes are realized.

Her research has been recognized with the following award:

• 2021 SRF Dissertation Scholar Award (WMDRG) from the Strategic Management Society

Nina Teng co-teaches Entrepreneurship 101 at MIT Sloan but has no formal advisees as a PhD candidate. Her industry experience includes founding roles at Grab and advising through CSVE Ventures, which directly informs her research. She co-authored the 2024 State of ESOPs in Asia report with Saison Capital, XA Network, and Carta, analyzing equity practices across 160 startups in Southeast Asia and India.

Nina Teng serves as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship and on the Extended Leadership Team of the XA Network (Southeast Asia's largest tech angel investor network). She actively advises technology startups through her venture fund CSVE Ventures and continues early-stage investment activities.