Dr. Simon Mak is Professor of Practice in the Department of Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Business Economics and the Executive Director of the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship at the SMU Cox School of Business. He specializes in ideation, business model strategies and planning, and corporate entrepreneurship. Dr. Mak recently served on the Dallas Mayor’s Task Force on Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Prior to joining SMU, Dr. Mak worked for Fortune 50 companies Raytheon and Digital Equipment Corporation, and then joined venture-backed software startup Mercury Interactive in Silicon Valley and moved to Texas after the company’s IPO. He was then involved in his own healthcare dot.com startup and presented to top-tier venture capital firms in Silicon Valley, and then was the vice president of sales and marketing for a startup Asian business magazine, and most recently he was vice president of marketing and business development for a Dallas-based private-equity backed Linux software company and led the sales expansion into Japan and the sale to a Japanese acquirer.
Dr. Mak is one of the leaders at SMU in researching and promoting blockchain entrepreneurship and created an MBA class on Blockchain Entrepreneurship Business Model Strategies. He has traveled to London, Berlin, Malta, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Israel, Beijing, and Shanghai researching blockchain startups, and is the founding Faculty Advisor for the SMU Blockchain Club and the SMU Fintech Club.
Dr. Mak also researches esports entrepreneurship and is the faculty advisor for the SMU Esports Club and co-director of the newly created SMU Esports Business Certificate Program. He has traveled to London, Stockholm and Israel researching esports startups. Dr. Mak’s newest area of research is space entrepreneurship.
Dr. Mak earned an BS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, an MBA in Finance from the SMU Cox School of Business, and a Ph.D. in Applied Science (Systems Engineering focus) from the SMU Lyle School of Engineering. Dr. Mak is also the recipient of the SMU Cox Teaching Innovation award, SMU Distinguished Community Service Award, the Rotunda Outstanding Professor Award, and the Global Educator of the Year by the Dallas Global Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Mak is also the faculty advisor for SMU Intervarsity Fellowship, the SMU Chess Club, and is on the SMU Incubator Advisory Committee.
