Research
The research network
I've worked with a lot of very good researchers. My part was to fund the right questions, read the drafts, make introductions, and get findings to decision makers in a form they could use.
Scholars funded through programs I led
Through the Kauffman Knowledge Challenges and related programs: $12M across 60+ projects, chosen from 1,100+ submissions.
- Erik BrynjolfssonStanford
- Nick BloomStanford
- John HaltiwangerMaryland
- Kristina McElheranToronto
- Ronnie ChatterjiDuke / OpenAI
- Rob SeamansNYU Stern
- Alexandrea RavenelleUNC Chapel Hill
- Lisa AbrahamRAND
- Stephanie HoopesUnited For ALICE
Acknowledged, quoted, or referenced
Thirty-four papers, articles, and reports thank me, quote me, or cite my work. Here are six.
The rest of the record28 · 2008–2025
- Entrepreneurs and Regulations, references my workCato Institute2021
- Strengthening Knowledge Creation and Research in Entrepreneurship: Inclusion MattersSSRN2021
- Zero Barriers: Three Mega Trends Shaping the Future of EntrepreneurshipKauffman / SSRN2017
- Characteristics of the Large Early 2020 Decline in New Businesses During COVID-19Kauffman2020
- New Employer Business TrendsKauffman Indicators2021
- Making a Market for Irregular Employment: A Guide for States, Counties, and CitiesBeyond Jobs2018
- Labor After LaborKauffman2018
- Fostering Productive Entrepreneurship CommunitiesEndeavor Insight2018
- Counter-IP Conspiracies, referencedUniversity of Miami Law Review2017
- WIPO CDIP Guide, referenced workWIPO2015
- The Rise of Social Capital, referenced workDeloitte Insights2018
- The Longevity Dividend: Work in an Era of 100-Year LivesDeloitte2018
- Chair, Independent Contractor & Platform Workforce session, Outsourcing research network, Harris SchoolUpjohn / University of Chicago2023
- Working, Earning, and Learning in the Age of Intelligent Machines, participantUC Berkeley WITS2018
- Design Sprint for Quality Flexible Work, advisorThe Workers Lab2022
- Midwest Symposium on Social EntrepreneurshipUMKC LEI Center2025
- Featured keynote, GFLEC financial literacy and entrepreneurship workshop with emlyon, ParisGFLEC2017
- Moderator, Entrepreneurship Among Baby Boomers conferenceGFLEC2016
- 2017 Kauffman Index, guidance and communicationsKauffman2017
- Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs: Removing Barriers, special thanksKauffman2019
- Proof of Concept Centers: Accelerating the Commercialization of University InnovationKauffman2008
- Drexel economics grant announcement, quotedDrexel LeBow2015
- University of Alabama study on the fate of IPO firms, quotedU. Alabama2017
- Self-Employed Entrepreneurs: The New Era Workforce, quotedCAMEO Network2017
- Reporting on gig work, quotedpress2016
- Commemitics: Analytics for the Innovation Economyacknowledgment2017
- Beyond the Breakdownacknowledgmentn.d.
- How Does STEM Bring the Real World to the Classroom? QuotedTalentCulturen.d.
Initiatives
Work I helped start
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Research lineage
NSF National Network of Research Institutes workshop
I was the invited philanthropy participant in the 2021 NSF workshop on regional and place-based innovation. NSF cites the workshop as part of the groundwork for its Regional Innovation Engines program, the largest place-based R&D investment since the land-grant acts. In July 2026 the program funded the UMKC-led Critical Materials Crossroads Engine in Kansas City, up to $160M over ten years. Workshop report.
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Signature program
The Kauffman Knowledge Challenges (2018, 2020, 2022)
Kauffman's main research calls on entrepreneurship and the economy. I helped design and run them: 1,100+ submissions and $12M across 60+ projects. The 2018 grantee announcement includes a quote from me.
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Field-building
The Future of Work research program (2016 on)
I wrote the 2016 call for proposals that launched Kauffman's future-of-work research funding, years before the topic drew wide attention. Its convenings and commissioned work ran for several years, and related papers are still coming out.
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Policy platform
America's New Business Plan
I contributed to Kauffman's bipartisan entrepreneurship policy platform, built with the Start Us Up coalition of 130+ organizations. It lays out ways to reduce barriers to starting a business. The plan.
Ninety-plus eventsI've worked as a speaker, chair, or moderator in each of these rooms, translating between the people who produce research and the people who need it.