Chiara Spina

Chiara’s research focuses on understanding how entrepreneurial firms leverage systematic decision-making and experimentation to innovate and grow. She examines the effect of emerging practices such as accelerators, hackathons, and crowdfunding often in collaboration with government entities and incubation hubs. Her research has been published in top-tier academic journals such as Management Science and has been featured in leading management publications including Harvard Business Review, and Forbes among others. Chiara is presently managing research projects funded by institutions such as the UK government (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy), the Italian government (Ministry of Education, University and Research), the Strategy Research Foundation, and the Innovation Growth Lab.

Chiara is the Director of pre-acceleration programs in Italy, the UK and India, where she has worked with more than 1,500 entrepreneurs. In her role, she combines the latest management practices with research insights to help deliver cutting-edge training and mentorship programs. Chiara is also the co-founder of Strategy Insight Lab, a business support program that has helped 250+ entrepreneurs adopt innovative practices that resulted in significant revenue growth.

In the last ten years, Chiara has worked with governments, as well as with multinationals in commodities, technology, and in the financial sector across Europe, Middle-East, Asia, and North America. Chiara holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration and Management (cum laude) from Bocconi University, and earned her BSc (cum laude) and MSc (cum laude) from the University of Milan.

Companies

• Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship INSEAD (2020)
• Managing Director InnoVentureLab (2020)
• Managing Director Idea to Startup Lab (2019)
• Co-founder Strategy Insight Lab (2018)
• Instructor and Managing Director The Startup Lab (2018 — 2020)
• Ph.D. Candidate Università Bocconi (2014 — 2020)
• Lecturer Università Bocconi (2018 — 2019)
• Academic Director The Startup Training (2017 — 2019)
• HR Advisor CRU (2011 — 2014)

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy - PhD Università Bocconi (2014 — 2020)
• Master's Degree The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) (2009 — 2010)
• Master's Degree Università degli Studi di Milano (2008 — 2009)
• Bachelor's Degree Università degli Studi di Milano (2005 — 2008)