Faculty/Staff

Lei Zhang

Lei Zhang

Associate Professor
leizhang@usf.edu
Room: BSN 3331
Phone: (813) 974-1267
Vita

Lei Zhang is an associate professor in the USF Nault Center for Entrepreneurship. She teaches graduate-level courses in fundamentals of venture capital and private equity, strategic entrepreneurship and advanced topics in entrepreneurship in the School of Marketing and Innovation.

Her research interests include entrepreneurship, social network and global strategies. She has published in top management and entrepreneurship journals such as the Administrative Science Quarterly, the Academy of Management Journal, and Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. Zhang also presented her research at several conferences, such as the Academy of Management annual meeting, the Strategic Management Society annual meeting and the INSEAD Network Evolution Conference.

Zhang earned a PhD in strategic management from the University of Maryland, a master's degree in economics from Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade in China and a bachelor's degree in economics from Yantai University in China.

Teaching

  • ENT 6947 Advanced Topics in Entrepreneurship
  • ENT 6415 Fundamentals Venture Capital and Private Equity

Recent Research

  • Zhang, Lei & Isin Guler, forthcoming, "How to Join the Club: Patterns of Embeddedness and Addition of New Members to Interorganizational Collaborations," Administrative Science Quarterly.
  • Zhang, Lei, forthcoming, "Founders Matter! Serial Entrepreneurs and Venture Capital Syndicate Formation." Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice
  • Zhang, Lei, Anil K. Gupta, & Ben L. Hallen, (2017), "The Conditional Importance of Prior Ties: A Group-Level Analysis of Venture Capital Syndication," Academy of Management Journal, 60(4), 1,360-1,386.
  • Zhang, Lei, Jing Zhang, & Justin Tan, (2017), "Network Structure, Partner Features and Performance: Evidence from Venture Capital Syndicates," Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings.
  • Yang, Yi. Tianxu Chen, & Lei Zhang, (2016), "Corporate Venture Capital Program Autonomy, Corporate Investors' Attention and Portfolio Diversification," Journal of Strategy and Management, 9(3), 302-321.

SERVICE 

  • Member, Academy of Management and the Strategic Management Society
  • Member, editorial review board, Small Business Economics
  • Ad hoc reviewer, Organization Science, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Strategic
    Entrepreneurship Journal, Journal of Management Studies, International Small Business
    Management