Thomas G. Pittz

Prior to launching a second career in academia, Dr. Thomas G. Pittz was a successful entrepreneur and corporate executive in the Twin Cities area. He now serves as the Executive Director of the United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), an organization recognized as an international leader in advancing entrepreneurship education. In addition, he serves as an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Lowth Entrepreneurship Center in the Sykes College of Business at the University of Tampa where his research broadly focuses on entrepreneurial ecosystems, the impact of strategic openness on innovation, and external knowledge acquisition and exploitation. He has published in numerous peer-reviewed scholarly journal outlets such as Small Business Economics, the Journal of Business Ethics, the Journal of Small Business Management. The book “The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Risk and Decisions: Building Successful Early Stage Ventures” is based largely on his previous entrepreneurial experience and from helping budding business founders to achieve their entrepreneurial goals.