ABSTRACT
This chapter profiles Steven Kaplan, a professor at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. It opens with a summary of Professor Kaplan’s teaching and research interests. These interests span a large number of topics that are essential to business success, including private equity, venture capital, wealth management, financing decisions, investment decisions, mergers and acquisitions, valuation methods, negotiation, and entrepreneurship. During an interview, Professor Kaplan discusses his reasons for becoming a teacher, his role models and training, preparation for class, flipped classrooms, the synergy between research and teaching, and his biggest challenges as a teacher. The chapter takes you inside his course titled “Corporate and Entrepreneurial Finance,” in which he uses a variety of teaching strategies and techniques, including an interactive teaching style and a blend of toughness and support for students. Beyond the classroom, Professor Kaplan is well-known for his award-winning research and for creating Booth’s New Venture Challenge (NVC). Student NVC startups have created thousands of jobs for the economy and generated more than $7.5 billion during exits and through mergers.
