Mr Dr. Andrew Isaak

Biography

Andrew Isaak studied economics at Bucknell University, completed his MBA in International Business at Pace University (USA) and earned his doctorate in Entrepreneurship (Business Administration) from the University of Mannheim, including a research stay at U.C. Berkeley. He subsequently held research and teaching positions at SolBridge International School of Business (South Korea), Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, and Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU).

In addition to his full-time position at the University of Wuppertal, he is a visiting professor at EM Strasbourg Business School and a lecturer at WU Vienna in the field of innovation (with a focus on AI). He is a member of the Editorial Review Board of Information Systems Journal and regularly serves as a reviewer for international journals and conferences.

He has practical experience as a member of the supervisory board of Certiff b.V. (Netherlands, 2023-2024), as founder of the crowdfunding startup Tommoko UG (Mannheim, 2011-2014), and as a management consultant at Accenture Consulting GmbH (Kronberg im Taunus, 2008).

Research interests:

• Crowdfunding and financing of sustainable startups
• AI-supported sustainability assessment
• Institutions in the emergence of new digital markets
• The role of founders' personalities
• Decision-making and succession in family businesses

Publications

• Isaak, A., Istipliler, B., Bort, S. and Woywode, M. (2025) Regulation, Corruption, and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations: Insights from Bitcoin Trading and Platform Founding Between 2011 and 2023. Organization Science, in press.
  https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2023.18467
• Koziol, K., Isaak, A. and Bort, S. (2025). Investment Risk Disclosure: How Platforms’ Campaign Ratings Impact Investors in Equity Crowdfunding. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2025, No. 1, p. 23366). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMPROC.2025.23366abstract
• Lobo, R., Pigatto, M., Denes, D. and Isaak, A. (2025). The Role of Intermediaries in Sociotechnical Transitions: A Systematic Framework Towards Sustainability Management. Business Strategy and the Environment, 34: 4998-5018. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.4237

Conferences

• Koziol, K., Isaak, A., and Bort, S. (2025). Risk Disclosure and Artificial Intelligence in Equity Crowdfunding. 6th ZEW Conference on the Dynamics of Entrepreneurship. Oct. 9-10. ZEW Mannheim.
• Isaak, A., Zaggl, M. and Steininger, D. (2025). Motivation by Status vs Reputation for Voluntary Contributions in Online Knowledge Exchange Communities. 6th ZEW Conference on the Dynamics of Entrepreneurship. Oct. 9-10. ZEW Mannheim.
• Isaak, A. and Sauer, S. (2025). Can Generative AI Score Sustainability? A Critical Experimental Assessment. VHB TIE Jahrestagung. Sep. 24-25, Bauhaus Universität Weimar.