Skip to main content

Claudia Zeisberger

Senior Affiliate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise

Biography

Claudia Zeisberger is a Senior Affiliate Professor of Entrepreneurship & Family Enterprise at INSEAD, and the Founder of the school’s private equity & venture capital centre GPEI. Through the centre’s work, INSEAD has established itself as the go-to source for insights on private capital in emerging markets and impact investing.

Professor Zeisberger advises corporations, institutional investors and governments on Private Capital portfolio construction and best practices, Corporate Venture Capital, Environmental Social and Governance (ESG), EdTech, Corporate Turnarounds, Risk Management, and the launch of Sovereign Wealth Funds.

She has over 30 years of experience as a finance professional and as an expert with deep experience in risk management, private equity and venture capital, Corporate Venturing and Innovation. As a Professor at INSEAD, she is a global citizen and award-winning author as well as an angel investor. She is a member of KKR’s Sustainable Expert Advisory Committee (SEAC) and sits on the Advisory Boards of Standard Chartered Ventures, Linzor Capital, BG Ventures and KaizenVest. Passionate about the future of education, she acts as a volunteer board advisor to Girl Rising, a non-profit focused on girls' education and empowerment.

At INSEAD, Professor Zeisberger teaches courses on Private Equity & Venture Capital, Corporate Turnaround and Risk management in their MBA, EMBA and Executive Education programmes. She has won the “Best Teaching Award” and has been awarded the “Dean’s Commendation for Excellence in MBA Teaching” annually since 2008. In 2010, she launched INSEAD’s popular course “Managing Corporate Turnarounds,” which combines in-class case studies and visits from industry professionals with an intensive computer-based simulation involving an iconic car brand and its struggle with bankruptcy.

Joining Academia in 2005 after a 16-year career in investment banking & alternative investments allowed her to leverage her extensive network and combine her passion for education & innovation by connecting academia with industry. Claudia is one of the best-networked people in the Private Capital space with extensive experience in bringing her academic and professional background to inform boards. She is an expert on Responsible Investing and ESG strategy implementation and is often invited in the role of ‘Professional Devil’s Advocate’.

Her recent work has focused mainly on private capital in emerging markets & Corporate Venture Capital. She is the author of "Mastering Private Equity – Transformation via Venture Capital, Minority Investments & Buyouts" as well as the corresponding INSEAD case book "Private Equity in Action – Case Studies from Developed & Emerging Markets".

http://claudiazeisberger.com/

Latest posts

Sort by

Economics & Finance

Why Demographics Matters More Than Ever for Businesses

C. Zeisberger, D. G. Munro

How understanding expanding and shrinking population subsets could help business and investors identify opportunities to pursue and pitfalls to avoid.

Responsibility

When Shareholders Share, the Business Benefits

Claudia Zeisberger

Offering company ownership to every employee can help reduce inequality.

Economics & Finance

Why Did Silicon Valley Bank Collapse?

L. Fang, K. Snellman, C. Zeisberger, D. G. Munro

Risky investments and a lack of regulatory oversight contributed to the failure of Silicon Valley Bank.
1 comment

Responsibility

Responsible AI Has Become Critical for Business

C. Zeisberger, A. Bose

Investors need to prioritise the ethical deployment of AI – too much is at stake if they don’t.

Entrepreneurship

Corporate VC Is Booming, but Is It What Your Start-Up Needs?

N. Sauvage, C. Zeisberger, M. Varadan

A guide to choosing the right corporate investment for entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurship

Venture Capital Crucial to Push for ‘Ethical’ AI and Tech Standards

T. Evgeniou, C. Zeisberger

Venture capitalists’ role as funding source and mentor of tech start-ups makes them uniquely placed to press for more responsible use of technology.

Responsibility

Can Private Equity Make Money While Doing Good?

Claudia Zeisberger

With the right tools, investors can help prevent an impact investing debacle.

Leadership & Organisations

How Nasdaq’s Board Diversity Rule Creates Potential for Real Change

F. Henderson, Z. Kinias, C. Zeisberger

The new rules requiring qualitative and quantitative disclosure about board diversity will better inform investors and (hopefully) spur further progress.
3 comments

Economics & Finance

Can Investors Save the Planet While Making a Profit?

D. Gospodinov, C. Zeisberger

Sustainability is fast becoming a core investment focus. Here’s what the industry can learn from the most successful climate impact funds.
1 comment

Economics & Finance

Has Venture Capital Strayed From Its Roots?

M. Varadan, K. Hassan, C. Zeisberger

Take a step back in time to observe how Georges Doriot – the founder of both VC and INSEAD – set up a machine to fuel and fund innovation and development.

Family Business

What Distinguishes Europe’s Family Business Champions from the Rest

A. von Stauffenberg, C. Zeisberger

Where do Europe’s family firms stand globally, in terms of creating sustainable, long-term value?

Economics & Finance

The Changing Face of Family Offices in Europe

C Zeisberger, C Decker-Lange, K Lange

The tumultuous events of the last two decades have affected European family offices differently, in accordance with the continent’s diversity.

Economics & Finance

Getting Rid of Gender Bias in Venture Capital

M Varadan, K Hassan, C Zeisberger

The gender gap in VC doesn’t merely reflect society’s sexism. It’s an alarm bell, warning of an industry’s obsolescence.

Entrepreneurship

Y Combinator Accelerates the Hunt for Unicorns

Faced with increasing competition, the leading accelerator is making start-up know-how widely available as it searches for the next Airbnb.

Economics & Finance

Latin American Family Firms and the Path to Longevity

A. Albers-Schoenberg, C. Zeisberger

Survey of family firms shows institutionalisation enables them to overcome the third-generation challenge.
1 comment

Economics & Finance

How PE and VC Are Closing the Gender Gap in Emerging Markets

Claudia Zeisberger & Heather M. Kipnis

If including women in senior private equity and venture capital leadership teams improves returns, why is the gender gap still so pervasive?

Entrepreneurship

The Rise of the Red Unicorn

Ian Potter & Claudia Zeisberger

China is on track to absorb more venture capital than the U.S. this year.

Economics & Finance

Why Venture Capitalists Should Invest Like Poker Players

K. Hassan, C. Zeisberger

No matter your level of experience, early-stage investments are considered high-risk gambles. Why not treat them as such?
5 comments