David M. Dodson

Lecturer in Management
David M. Dodson

Bio

David Dodson has been active for thirty years in the management and formation of new businesses and is the author of the best selling book The Manager’s Handbook. After graduating from Stanford GSB, as a case writer he wrote the original course material for search funds — then in its infancy. After one year as a case writer, Dodson raised his own search fund, which led to the purchase of a company in 1989. He subsequently raised two more search funds that resulted in acquisitions and has served as CEO of a technology manufacturer and Executive Chairman of a telecommunications firm. Dodson is an active investor, investing in over forty businesses, and Dodson has been a director in twenty-one companies.

In 2000 Dodson co-founded Project Healthy Children, which was later re-named Sanku, which has operated in eight African countries. With the help of Stanford’s Extreme Affordability program, Sanku invented the only successful technology to fortify grains in rural mills, and the award- winning technology has saved and improved the lives of millions of rural families in Africa. In 2018, out of concern for the state of our country, Dodson ran for the U.S. Senate in his home state of Wyoming. He is a frequent columnist for The Boston Globe and Casper Star-Tribune, and a regular guest commentator with CNBC and Fox Business News.

Believing that access to voting is a basic right, in 2020, Dodson founded StudentVotes.org, to safely empower students to vote safely during the pandemic. Targeting nine key races, StudentVotes was 61 times more effective than an established get-out-the-vote nonprofit (with stronger university ties) at enabling university students in key swing states to vote remotely in the 2020 presidential election, reducing viral spread while empowering students.

David Dodson teaches S355, “Managing Growing Enterprises”, S543, “Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition”, and S210 “Managerial Skills.” Dodson is a graduate of Stanford University (Economics ’83, MBA ’87), and a former case writer (1988).

Stanford GSB Affiliations

Academic Degrees

  • MBA, Stanford GSB, 1987
  • BA in Economics, Stanford University, 1983

Awards and Honors

  • MBA Class of 1978 Lecturer, 2023–24
  • MSx Teaching Excellence Award, Stanford GSB, 2023
  • MSx Teaching Excellence Award, Stanford GSB, 2021
  • Amplifier Award (nominee), Stanford GSB, 2018 & 2019
  • MBA Class of 1973 Lecturer, Stanford GSB, 2015–16

Research Statement

David Dodson’s area of research includes entrepreneurial acquisition, whereby one searches for, and acquires, a company that they intend to be the principal manager for; management issues around growing enterprises, small and medium sized acquired companies, and early stage enterprises.

Cases

E872
Dave Dodson, Jose Ignacio Garcia Suarez
2024
E872B
Dave Dodson, Jose Ignacio Garcia Suarez
2024
David Dodson
2023
David Dodson, Alessia Morales
2023
David Dodson
2023
David Dodson, Kim Latypov, Jose Ignacio Garcia Suarez
2023
David Dodson, Gelila Bekele
2022
David Dodson, Blake Kavanaugh
2020
H. Irving Grousbeck, David Dodson, Jim Ellis, Erika Feldhausen
2020
David Dodson, Blake Kavanaugh
2020
H. Irving Grousbeck, David Dodson, Erika Feldhausen
2020
H. Irving Grousbeck, David Dodson, Erika Feldhausen
2020
E742
David Dodson, Imogen Mansfield
2020
David Dodson, Blake Kavanaugh
2020
David Dodson, Scott Mitchel
2020
David Dodson, Mitchel Scott
2020
David Dodson, Erika Feldhausen
2020
E648
David M. Dodson, Amadeus Orleans
2018
David Dodson, Jeffrey Conn
2018
SM291
David Dodson, Cameron Lehman
2018
David Dodson, Matt Saucedo
2017
David Dodson, Matt Saucedo
2017
David Dodson, Sara Rosenthal
2017
David Dodson, Matthew Saucedo
2016
David Dodson, Ryan Kissick
2016
E585
David Dodson, Jessica Morgan
2016
David Dodson, Ryan Kissick
2015
David Dodson, Jessica Morgan
2015
David Dodson, Sara Rosenthal
2015
E577
David Dodson, Sara Rosenthal
2015
E545
David Dodson, Ryan Kissick
2015
David Miller Dodson
2014
David Dodson
2013
David Dodson
2013
Harold Grousbeck, David Dodson
1987

Teaching Materials

In the Media

Insights by Stanford Business

December 12, 2023
’Tis the season for personal and professional growth.
October 16, 2023
There’s a better way to say “you’re fired.”
July 18, 2023
In this episode, David Dodson shares how workplace feedback can be your company’s secret weapon.
October 19, 2022
Stanford GSB faculty and alumni discuss ways citizens, leaders, and organizations can begin to bridge the political gap. (Part 2)
December 03, 2015
A serial board member explains why even young companies need strong directors.

School News

June 19, 2023
Atwell, Dodson, and Skrzypacz honored for their commitment to students.
June 29, 2022
Students choose Szu-chi Huang, Scott Brady, Darrell Duffie, and David Dodson for 2021–2022 teaching awards.
July 29, 2020
“I was forced to exchange something I had chased for years with something I now find matters more.”
April 12, 2019
Nova Credit, which began as a class project, helps immigrants and visitors to the U.S. bring their credit histories with them.
April 23, 2018
Two first-time political candidates talk about applying the lessons they learned at Stanford GSB.
June 01, 2016
Accounting professors Elizabeth Blankespoor and Ed deHaan, and Marketing Professor Harikesh Nair have been recognized by students for exceptional teaching.