Harvard MBA Put In Charge Of University’s Innovation Lab

Jodi Goldstein will become managing director of the Harvard innovation lab, a university-wide facility that fosters team-based and entrepreneurial activities, Harvard University said today (Feb. 25). Goldstein will assume her duties in June after the departure of current managing director Gordon Jones.

Goldstein, who graduated with an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1996, has been a key member of the i-lab management team since its launch in 2011. In 2014 she spearheaded the Launch Lab, a business incubator for Harvard alumni that is already demonstrating the potential and future of Harvard’s Allston campus as a solutions-centered community built on interdisciplinary collaboration.

Before joining i-lab, Goldstein had been co-founder and vice president of marketing and business development at Drync, which runs an industry-disrupting wine-buying app, for a little more than three years.

“We all can be proud of the i-lab’s extraordinary success, beyond what any of us might have imagined when it opened its doors just over four years ago,” says HBS dean Nitin Nohria in a statement. “In this next stage of its development, there is no better choice than Jodi to serve as its leader.” Added university provost Alan Garber, “Her demonstrated commitment to supporting young entrepreneurs, ability to build relationships and map new paths, and deep commitment to the i-lab’s mission make her the right person to guide the i-lab to new heights.”

Goldstein holds a B.S. from the University of Vermont and an MBA from Harvard. Since graduating from HBS, she had worked at a number of startups in positions ranging from product, market, and business development to strategic consulting. Typical of the startup career path, Goldstein did brief stints at Hear Music, iMarket, PlanetAll, Send.com, Hotelluxury.com, Mobicious, and finally Drync. As a result, she is widely known in the Boston startup community, having been an entrepreneur and investor in the region for 20 years. Before attending HBS, she worked as a consultant for General Electric and TA Associates.

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