Laurie Barkman

Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship

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Bio

Laurie teaches The Corporate Startup Lab at Carnegie Mellon, a unique project course on corporate entrepreneurship, in which diverse teams of graduate students partner with large companies to test and develop real startup ideas brought by the corporations.

In addition to teaching, Laurie is a business transition and M&A intermediary. She works with owner-led companies to maximize value anticipating succession and provides advisory services for acquisitions and sell-side transactions.

As host of the award-winning podcast, Succession Stories, Laurie speaks with hundreds of entrepreneurs who have shared their journeys through succession. She is the author of, The Business Transition Handbook: How to Avoid Succession Pitfalls and Create Valuable Exit Options.

Laurie is the former CEO of GENCO Marketplace and became an Officer & Senior Vice President of FedEx after the company was acquired in 2015. During her 25+ year career, Laurie drove scalable growth in corporate startups and transformation efforts at corporations including American Eagle Outfitters and Ingersoll-Rand Company. Her broad industry experience includes Software, eCommerce, Logistics, and Professional Services.

Laurie serves on the Advisory Board for Massaro Corporation, and is a former Advisory Board Member of Safety io, a subsidiary of MSA Safety Incorporated.

She earned her MBA from The Tepper School of Business and a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University.