Research Settings & Data

My research draws on a range of empirical settings to examine how entrepreneurs mobilize human capital and drive innovation across diverse organizational and labor market contexts. I primarily work with large-scale archival data—often involving millions of observations—to uncover patterns in entrepreneurial behavior, team formation, and workforce dynamics. These data inform both theory development and practical insights. I welcome collaborations that build on these empirical foundations or explore related questions using innovative analytical approaches.

Large-Scale Quantitative Data

1. Crunchbase, PitchBook, PatentsView, and LinkedIn – Comprehensive data on startups, investment activity, intellectual property, and workforce dynamics.

Crunchbase: Over 1 million firms
Pitchbook: Over 300,000 firms
LinkedIn: Tracks over 50 million employees and 302 million position changes associated with the above firms
PatentsView: 8.8M patents

2. Elance/Upwork – Online freelancing platforms capturing gig economy dynamics

Includes over 2.3 million job postings from approximately 500,000 employers
Contains more than 21 million job applications submitted by around 600,000 gig workers

3. Seraph (pseudonym) – A professional networking platform similar to LinkedIn, where startups actively engage potential employees (joiners)

Includes data on over 1,500 startups and 9,000 job seekers, with more than 4 million recorded interactions between the two groups

4. Steam – A video game platform that enables entrepreneurial users to create and distribute original digital game content

Includes over 3 million user-generated game mods created by approximately 1 million user-entrepreneurs

5. JobMatch (pseudonym) – An on-demand staffing platform similar to Wonolo, Instawork reflecting flexible labor markets

Includes over 440,000 applications by 65,000 gig workers
150,000 job postings from approximately 1,800 employers

Qualitative Data (Pre-doctoral Fieldwork)

1. North Korean Refugee Entrepreneurship – Exploring interactions between North Korean Refugee entrepreneurs and South Korean social entrepreneurs

My coauthors and I have spent about 1,000 hours participating in 200 events, and 57 ethnographic interviews

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