Patrick Vernon

Patrick Vernon is a clinical associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School. Patrick has been teaching classes in venture capital and entrepreneurial strategy for over 15 years. He also manages the global Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC), where he oversees a network of 20 regional finals events in seven countries, with 120 student teams representing 70 MBA programs and 50 undergraduate institutions.

He is the author of “Venture Capital Strategy: How to Think Like a Venture Capitalist” (VC Razor Publishing, 2018), which treats venture capital as a topic of strategy rather than finance.

Professor Vernon’s entrepreneurial consulting course has worked with more than 60 local startups running the gamut from high tech to retail, fast growth to non-profit.

Prior to joining UNC Kenan-Flagler, he was an entertainment entrepreneur, founding an independent record label based in Los Angeles. With his band, The Zookeepers, he released four CDs and performed 500 shows in the United States and Europe.

He received his MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler with a concentration in entrepreneurship and a BS, summa cum laude, in audio technology with a minor in physics from American University.