The Harvard Business School (HBS) Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship has announced its 2026–2027 Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIRs), Venture Builders, Venture Capital Advisors (VCAs), and Legal Specialists (LSs), further strengthening one of the most comprehensive entrepreneurship expert networks in higher education.
Together, these accomplished founders, startup operators, investors, and legal experts give HBS students unparalleled access to the people, experience, and insights needed to build successful ventures, from validating an idea to scaling a company.
This year, the Rock Center introduces Venture Builders, a new category of advisors designed to complement its longstanding EIRs. As founders and startup operators with recent, hands-on experience building early-stage companies, they provide practical guidance on the realities of launching and growing a venture.
The cornerstone of the Rock Center’s expert network remains its EIRs. Appointed by the dean of Harvard Business School, these accomplished founders and executives serve as mentors, coaches, collaborators, and thought partners for students and faculty alike. They bring deep experience in founding, building, scaling, financing, and exiting companies while shaping entrepreneurship education through mentoring, classroom engagement, research, and programming.
“The case method teaches students to reason through someone else’s hardest decision. The Expert Network lets them do it on their own,” said Shikhar Ghosh, faculty chair of the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship and MBA Class of 1961 Professor of Management Practice. “Our experts help shape what we teach, join us in the classroom, and then sit down one-on-one with the founders. Whether a student is building an AI company, a climate venture, a healthcare startup, or the next consumer platform, they can take the problem in front of them to someone who has already solved it.”
Collectively, this year’s experts bring experience spanning artificial intelligence, robotics, climate technology, healthcare, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, fintech, cybersecurity, consumer products, enterprise software, digital commerce, and other high-growth sectors, ensuring founders can connect with advisors whose expertise aligns with the challenges they are solving.
Throughout the academic year, the 18 Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, including 15 HBS alumni, will meet one-on-one with MBA students, facilitate Rock Center programs, collaborate with faculty on research and course development, and provide guidance to founders tackling some of entrepreneurship’s most difficult challenges.
The Rock Center’s new Venture Builders will complement the work of the EIRs. As founders and startup operators who have recently built early-stage companies, they serve as near peers to HBS founders, providing practical guidance on customer discovery, product development, go-to-market strategy, hiring, fundraising, cofounder dynamics, and the day-to-day realities of building a company.
“Our students are fortunate to start with a network that is already committed to them,” said Thara Pillai, director, Rock Center for Entrepreneurship. “Entrepreneurs-in-Residence who have built and scaled companies, Venture Builders who are near peers and know the early stages because they just lived them, and investors and lawyers who step in with the questions turn to financing and structure. That is the power of the Rock Expert Network.”
The Rock Center’s Venture Capital Advisors, who include managing and general partners from leading venture capital firms, advise students on fundraising strategy, business models, investor readiness, and market positioning. Many also serve as judges for the annual Student New Venture Competition.
Legal Specialists, representing leading law firms, meet with students to advise on incorporation, founder agreements, venture financing, intellectual property, governance, employment, and other legal issues critical to launching and growing successful startups.
Many of this year’s experts are Harvard Business School alumni who have returned to campus to mentor the next generation of founders, reflecting the strength of HBS’s entrepreneurial community and its tradition of founders helping founders.
Founded in 2003 through the generosity of legendary venture capitalist Arthur Rock, the Rock Center for Entrepreneurship continues to strengthen Harvard Business School’s position as a global leader in entrepreneurship education, innovation, and venture creation.
