Tim Weiss is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship at the Imperial College London. His research programme sits at the intersection of organizational theory and entrepreneurship, analysing the changing nature of entrepreneurship and its effects on society. His research has been published in leading organization and management journals, and has been covered by key outlets in the business press.
Tim is interested in the field and organizational level of analysis, studying phenomena like the emergence of Kenya’s Silicon Savannah, entrepreneurship in informal economies, entrepreneurial misconduct in and by Silicon Valley startups, and the effects of experimentation by entrepreneurial organizations on its users. He has conducted extensive qualitative and ethnographic work, leveraging sociological and anthropological constructs for theorization.
Tim is a founding member of the Interdisciplinary Network for Technology and Entrepreneurship Research in African Societies (learn more by listening to this podcast episode) and of the annual Entrepreneurship & Society conference. He is also the editor of the hugely successful open-access book Digital Kenya: An Entrepreneurial Revolution in the Making (Palgrave, 2017) which ranked among the top 5 most downloaded open access publications at Palgrave Macmillan. Before joining the faculty at Imperial College, Tim was a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Work, Technology & Organization in Stanford’s Management Science and Engineering Department. He holds a Doctorate and Master’s degree from a start-up academic institution, Zeppelin University in Germany, and a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of Vienna.
Tim’s new line of research will focus on climate mitigation and adaptation efforts in African societies. Specifically, the effect of voluntary carbon markets and clean tech entrepreneurs on rural citizens (e.g., pastoral communities, subsistence farmers and/or rural villages) is of key interest. Aspiring PhD students and Postdoctoral fellows are encouraged to get in touch.
Before becoming an academic researcher, Tim worked in international development aid in Kenya and Ethiopia. Outside work, he enjoys spending time with his wife and young son as well as cycling, meditation, and boxing. You can learn more about Tim’s work by listening to this podcast episode.