Bio

Ilya A. Strebulaev is the David S. Lobel Professor of Private Equity and Professor of Finance at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, where he has been a faculty member since 2004, and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He also is the director of the Stanford Venture Capital Initiative. He graduated from the London Business School with a doctorate in Finance. He also holds degrees from Lomonosov Moscow State University (B.Sc. Economics) and the New Economic School, Moscow (M.A. Economics).

Professor Strebulaev is an expert in corporate finance, venture and angel capital, innovation financing, corporate innovation, and financial decision-making. His work has been widely published in leading academic journals, including the Journal of Finance, the Review of Financial Studies, and the Journal of Financial Economics. Ilya has been awarded a number of prestigious academic awards, including the First Paper Prize of the Brattle Award for the best corporate paper published in the Journal of Finance, the Fama-DFA Prize for the best asset pricing paper published in the Journal of Financial Economics, and the Trefftzs Award by the Western Finance Association. His research has also been featured in a variety of media, including New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

His most recent research has examined many aspects of the venture capital industry. For example, in the largest ever survey of VCs to date, he and his co-authors analyze all the aspects of decision-making by venture capitalists. As another example, in analyzing the valuation of highly valued VC-backed companies (called “unicorns”), he found that these companies on average are overvalued by 50% and that many of the so-called unicorns lose their unicorn status once their fair value is taken into consideration.

Ilya teaches at the MBA, MsX, PhD, and executive education programs, and has been awarded the Stanford MBA Distinguished Teaching Award, the Sloan Teaching Excellence Award, as well as the inaugural Masters in Management Best Teacher Award at the London Business School. He developed an MBA-level course on Angel and Venture Capital that he has been teaching for the past several years. The course enables the students to study many aspects of innovation financing at various stages, including decision making, attracting venture and angel investments, negotiating contractual terms, valuing VC-backed companies, and analyzing the performance of venture capital funds.

Professor Strebulaev has also led many workshops and executive sessions on new innovation trends, venture capital, the ecosystem of Silicon Valley, corporate innovation, and strategic decision making for senior business and government leaders around the world.

When not teaching or doing research, Ilya enjoys spending time with his family, reading, traveling, listening to classical music, and collecting and appreciating fine wine and art.

Academic Appointments

  • Professor, Finance

Administrative Appointments

  • The David S. Lobel Professor of Private Equity and Professor of Finance (tenured), Graduate School of Business, Stanford University (2016 - Present)
  • Professor of Finance (tenured), Graduate School of Business, Stanford University (2014 - 2016)
  • Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research (2010 - Present)
  • Associate Professor of Finance (tenured), Graduate School of Business, Stanford University (2010 - 2014)
  • Visiting Associate Professor of Finance, London Business School (2009 - 2010)
  • Associate Professor of Finance, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University (2008 - 2010)
  • Assistant Professor of Finance, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University (2004 - 2008)

Honors & Awards

  • Best Paper, Private Equity Research Consortium Best Paper Award (2017)
  • Highly commended paper, Best Private Equity paper 2017, Savvy Investor Awards (2017)
  • Dhirubhai Ambani Faculty Fellow in Entrepreneurship, Stanford GSB (2014-2015)
  • Finalist, 2014 TIAA-CREF Paul A. Samuelson Award (2014)
  • Shanahan Family Faculty Scholar, Stanford GSB (2013-2014)
  • The Sloan Teaching Excellence Award, Stanford GSB (2013)
  • First Place, Fama–DFA Prize, Journal of Financial Economics (2011)
  • Spence Faculty Scholar, Stanford GSB (2010-2011)
  • The Masters in Management Inaugural Best Teacher Award, London Business School (2010)
  • The MBA Distinguished Teacher Award, Stanford GSB (2009)
  • The MBA Distinguished Teacher Award (shortlisted), Stanford GSB (2008)
  • Distinguished Alumni Award, New Economic School (2007)
  • First Paper Prize, Brattle Award, Journal of Finance (2007)
  • The Best Paper Award, 13th Mitsui Symposium on Finance, U. of Michigan (2007)
  • The MBA Distinguished Teacher Award (shortlisted), Stanford GSB (2007)
  • Fletcher Jones Faculty Scholar, Stanford GSB (2006–2007)
  • Moody’s Grant for $30,000, (with S. Schaefer) (2005)
  • Award for the best paper, The Dimitris N. Chorafas Foundation (2004)
  • The Trefftzs Award, Western Finance Association (2004)
  • Inquire Europe research grant for euro 10,000, (with S. Schaefer) (2003-2004)
  • Inquire UK research grant for GBP10,000, (with S. Schaefer) (2003-2004)
  • Kaplanis Fellowship, London Business School (2002-2004)
  • Citigroup Ph.D. Scholar, London Business School (2001-2002)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

  • Member, Board of Directors, Yandex N.V. (Nasdaq: YNDX) (2018 - Present)

Professional Education

  • Ph.D., London Business School, Finance (2004)
  • M.Phil, London Business School, Finance (2002)
  • M.A., New Economic School, Moscow, Economics (1999)
  • B.A., Lomonosov Moscow State University, Economics (1997)

Contact

  • Academic
    istrebulaev@stanford.edu
    University - Faculty Department: Graduate School of Business - Faculty Position: Professor

Additional Info

  • Mail Code: 4800

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

Professor Strebulaev is an expert in corporate finance, venture and angel capital, innovation financing, corporate innovation, and financial decision-making. His recent work has examined the valuation of VC-backed companies, decision making by startup investors, returns to VC investors, and impact of venture capital investments. Ilya's work has been widely published in leading academic journals and has been awarded a number of prestigious academic awards. His research has also been featured in a variety of media, including New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

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