Scaling Up Startup Organizations

Centre for Entrepreneurial Growth and Scaling (CEGS) in the Whitaker Institute for Innovation and Societal Change invites you to join a panel conversation on:

“Scaling Up Startup Organizations” with Dr. Alicia DeSantola, author of the Harvard Business Review article “Start-ups that last: How to scale your business.” In conversation with Elaine Murphy and Professor Jonathan Levie. Hosted by Professor Esther Tippmann.

Register here

Alicia DeSantola is an Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the University of Washington, Foster School of Business. Her research focuses on the strategic and organizational challenges associated with scaling high-growth entrepreneurial ventures in technology and life sciences industries. She is the recipient of the Industry Studies Association Best Dissertation Award. Her dissertation work on scaling and entrepreneurial teams was also a finalist for the Academy of Management’s Heizer Dissertation Award in New Enterprise Development and shortlisted for the Grigor McClelland Award. Alicia’s research has been published in Academy of Management Annals and Harvard Business Review.

At UW, Alicia teaches Entrepreneurial Strategy (ENTRE 510) in the MS Entrepreneurship Program and Introduction to Entrepreneurship (ENTRE 370), an undergraduate elective. She has been recognized as a “Star Teacher”  by the Management & Organization Department for high teaching scores and previously received Harvard University’s Certificate of Distinction in Teaching. Her opinions have been quoted in news outlets such as the Wall Street Journal.

Alicia graduated from Harvard University with a PhD in Organizational Behavior and an AM in Sociology. She also holds a MS in Management Science & Engineering and an honors BS and BA degree from Stanford University. Prior to academia, Alicia worked as a management consultant specialized in advising biotechnology and life-sciences executives on the management of pipeline portfolio products.

Elaine Murphy, Senior Vice President, LiveTiles EMEA

Elaine has held multiple senior leadership roles across start-ups, both Indigenous and multinational, that she has been instrumental in scaling in the tech space in recent years. She joined LiveTiles as country manager to set-up their Innovation hub in Sligo in early 2018. Within 12 months, Elaine was promoted to Senior Vice President of Operations across Europe, the Middle East & Africa (EMEA).

Elaine is a huge advocate of driving further investment in the West of Ireland and has already secured Sligo as the headquarters for LiveTiles, EMEA. As part of her efforts to boost greater diversity in the tech scene, to increase career opportunities in the West, she is a leading voice in cluster such as Tech Northwest. Elaine was elected to the board of the American Chamber of Commerce in 2017 and uses this as a platform to showcase the burgeoning diverse business scene and lifestyle the West of Ireland has to offer.

Elaine received both her bachelor’s and master’s degree in Business Studies from the National University of Ireland Galway and the Institute of Technology Sligo, respectively. She participated in the 2017 Women’s leadership forum at Harvard Business School with an elite group of successful businesswomen from around the world.

Jonathan Levie

Jonathan Levie is Professor of Entrepreneurship & Regional Development in the J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics in NUI Galway. He has held research and teaching posts at London Business School and the University of Strathclyde (UK), Babson College (US), INSEAD (France), and University College, Cork (Ireland). In 2019, with Professor Esther Tippmann, he co-founded the Centre for Entrepreneurial Growth & Scaling (CEGS).

Esther Tippmann

Professor of Strategy, Leadership and Change at NUI Galway, Esther is the Head of Discipline, Management and the Co-Founder and Co-Director, with Professor Jonathan Levie, of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Growth and Scaling (CEGS). Before joining NUI Galway, she was a faculty member at University College Dublin and Research Fellow at Grenoble Ecole de Management, France.