Josh Botkin is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Zell Lurie Institute and a Lecturer of Entrepreneurial Studies at Michigan Ross. He teaches entrepreneurship and innovation to a diverse range of learners, including undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, alumni, and executives. He has also served as Faculty Director of Michigan’s Zell Entrepreneurs Program, which provides financial support and mentorship to the University’s most promising student founders.
When he’s not on campus, Josh actively practices entrepreneurship and innovation. Over the past decade, he has worked with venture-backed startups, including HistoSonics (recently acquired at a valuation of $2.25 billion), a medical device startup company whose novel focused-ultrasound technology destroys tumors non-invasively without heat or ionizing radiation, and Vergent Bioscience (post-Series B), a biotech startup commercializing a molecular agent that binds to tumors and fluoresces under near-infrared light, to improve intraoperative visualization during surgery.
Josh also works with Global 500 companies, startups, and nonprofit organizations to identify significant unmet needs and create new-to-the-world products, services, and business models. He has led large innovation projects and training sessions for clients such as AARP, Ford Motor Co., UnitedHealth Group, and USCAP. Earlier in his career, he served as VP of Product & Business Development at an orthopedic health startup, helped launch and manage the e-commerce division for a Fortune 500 retailer, and worked on a series of PBS documentaries hosted by Walter Cronkite.
Josh earned an MBA (focusing on Strategy & Entrepreneurship) from the University of Michigan and a BA from Columbia University.
Expertise:
- Opportunity discovery & validation
- Business models
- Customer discovery
- Solution ideation
- Startup financing
- Deep tech startups
- Healthcare/Medtech innovation
- Futuring & foresight
