Sean Higgins is an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. His research studies how technology reduces barriers to financial inclusion, and the effect of reducing these barriers on households and small firms. He holds a PhD in Economics, and prior to joining Kellogg, he was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.

• Post-Doctoral, 2019, University of California, Berkeley
• Ph.D., 2016, Economics, Tulane University
• B.S., 2011, Economics, Tulane University

• Assistant Professor of Finance, Finance, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2020-present
• Post-Doctoral Fellow in Household Finance, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2019-2020

• Visiting Scholar, Philadelphia Federal Reserve, 2020-2020
• Visiting Researcher, Banco de México (Central Bank of Mexico), 2017-2017
• Visiting Scholar, UC Berkeley, 2014-2015
• Visiting Scholar, El Colegio de México, 2013-2014

• Best Paper Award, GSU-RFS FinTech Conference
• PBCSF Award for the Best Paper in Fintech, Western Finance Association
• Best Paper in Corporate Finance, SFS Cavalcade North America
• Schloss Prize for Excellence in Economic Research
• Fulbright Scholar to Mexico

Entrepreneurial Finance and Venture Capital (FINC-445-0)
This course uses the case method, alongside selected lectures and guest speakers, to study entrepreneurial finance and venture capital decision focusing on the funding decisions of start-ups (fast growing entrepreneurial firms). The goal is to understand how entrepreneurs can raise funds and how venture capital partnerships choose, value, structure, fund, and manage their investments. The course covers all stages of the financing process, from startup to exit, structuring multi-staged financings, and valuing entrepreneurial ventures. In addition, the course provides insight into how venture capital partnerships work, why they take the forms they do, and where the crucial problems and opportunities for innovation exist. Consideration is given to the incentives faced by venture capital partnerships and the investors in those partnerships, and how to properly make financing decisions and negotiate contractual terms. The course emphasizes high growth start-ups searching for funding in the US and venture capital funding as opposed to more traditional entrepreneurial and family firms operating globally (see FINC945 for these topics) and to Leveraged Buyouts (see FINC-448 for LBOs). The course is aimed primarily at people who may be involved in an entrepreneurial venture at some point in their careers, those interested in pursuing venture capital careers, or those interested in asset management. The coursework will consist of case study write-ups as well as a take-home final exam.