Ken Morse
Ken Morse

° Advisory Board


Ken Morse was a co-founder of six high-tech companies, together with MIT friends and classmates. Five of these ventures had successful IPOs or mergers; one was a disaster. They included 3Com Corporation, Aspen Technology, Inc., a China Trade Company, a biotech venture, and an expert systems company. Ken was either the CEO or responsible for part or all the Sales organization in each of these new enterprises. During his 4+ years as Managing Director of AspenTech (AZPN) Europe SA/NV, Ken’s team achieved 18 consecutive quarters of on-target sales performance by building close strategic relationships with the leading chemical and pharmaceutical companies throughout Europe and the Middle East. He grew the AspenTech EMEA organization from 22 to 200+ employees with basically zero staff turnover, and expanded sales revenue 600% – 900% with key client relationships. 

In 1975 Ken formed a trading advisory company under the aegis of Chase Manhattan Bank to assist U.S. and European technology-based companies such as IBM, General Motors, Gillette, Hughes Aircraft, Mine Safety Appliances, Waters Associates, and others to enter the China market. Ken was based in Beijing for five years during the latter half of the Cultural Revolution. Since returning to the US in 1980 when he joined in founding 3Com Corporation, he has focused on building technology-based businesses and taking them global.

Ken served on the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE) during President Obama’s first term, which conceived and launched “Startup America” and the “JOBS Act” earning strong bi-partisan support. Ken advises major corporations in the US, LATAM, Europe, Turkey, and Japan on their innovation strategies. He was a founding member of the Telefónica Disruptive Council (Madrid), and is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations (NYC).

Ken’s passion for helping high tech ventures grow and go global began at MIT, where he graduated with a BS in Political Science in 1968, followed in 1972 by an MBA from Harvard Business School. Upon graduation, he joined Schroders, the UK-based merchant bank, where he worked directly for Jim Wolfensohn, former President of the World Bank. 

In the 13 years (1996 – 2009) that Ken served as Founding Managing Director of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center, the number of students taking Entrepreneurship Courses increased from 220 to 1,600 per year while the number of professors grew from 3 to over 36. He launched the Corporate Venturing Consortium (CVC) through which F-500 corporations shared best practices and challenges with their innovation strategies. Ken also conceived and led the weeklong MIT Entrepreneurship Development Program (EDP), which over the past 16+ years has trained over 2,000 global entrepreneurs in an intensive on campus executive education program. Ken was named “Education All Star” by “Mass High Tech” magazine and was a member of the MIT Enterprise Forum Global Board (2009 – 2011).

Ken is Chairman & CEO of Entrepreneurship Ventures Inc. which convenes an experienced team of practitioners and serial entrepreneurs to help world class companies to accelerate innovation. He is currently working with major corporations in Denmark, Spain, and Japan. The Entrepreneurship Ventures [EV] team has delivered Entrepreneurial Skills Development workshops and programs in Colombia, Costa Rica, Canada, Europe (Norway, Romania, Scotland, Spain, The Netherlands), Turkey, the Middle East (Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE), Mexico, Pakistan, and New Zealand.

In the U.S., Ken serves on the Board of Advisors of several MIT spin-offs including Brain Power LLC., Concentric Power Inc., E-Circuit Motors (ECM), and Rhapsody Venture Partners. Ken is also a member of the Board of Advisors of the Center for Marine Robotics (CMR), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution [WHOI] in Woods Hole. 

Elsewhere, Ken serves on the Board of Advisors of several globally ambitious start-ups, including ParaDurumu/ Moneye in Turkey; FlyScan Systems Inc. and PixMob in Québec; and Increnta, and invenio learn.by.doing in Spain.

During 2013, two young companies in Spain advised by Ken achieved key milestones: one was sold to Intel; the other received two infusions of foreign capital, creating more high value jobs in Andalusia and Valencia.

Ken speaks almost fluent French and some Chinese. When he is not helping young companies to succeed, Ken enjoys sailing his 62-year old wooden boat with his family around Cape Cod.