Brad R. Turner

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Introduction

I am a doctoral candidate in Economic Sociology at the MIT Sloan School of Management.My research centers on how entrepreneurs and organizations communicate to achieve strategic goals. Specifically, I study the power and limits of narrative for persuading and coordinating stakeholders. I use contexts in private-equity and financial markets to show how strategic storytelling drives outcomes for entrepreneurial organizations, innovative ideas, and novel opportunities.

Research Summary

In my job-market paper, I qualitatively analyze entrepreneur-investor interactions at three pitch events. Based on the lines of questions that entrepreneurs receive from investors, I ground hypotheses about why some stories strengthen core arguments and data claims to mobilize investors, while others trigger skepticism and can damage credibility. In short, stories help or hurt depending on whether they are perceived as complements or substitutes for other information in the pitch.In a second paper, with Georg Rilinger, I study how market contrarians use narratives to shape prices. Activist short sellers publish narrative reports about public companies to catalyze a stock sell-off, lowering the price, to generate profits. Prior research suggests that short, consistent, and well-evidenced narratives are most effective. But we find that these 'valuation entrepreneurs' publish sprawling, rhetorically flamboyant reports using uneven evidence. We use qualitative analysis—scaled with AI agents and triangulated with interviews—to show that narratives and evidence vary with uncertainty about how other investors will interpret new information. The key finding is a tradeoff in the structures of communications that persuade versus coordinate.These papers build on new theory developed in my review of 40 years of management research on how narratives advance core organizational capabilities, “Narrative Affordances: What Stories Can and Cannot Do,” published in the Academy of Management Annals.In select working papers, I am exploring questions in entrepreneurship and innovation. With Ethan Poskanzer, I explore how publicly-funded accelerators and pitch competitions stimulate regional economic development outside dominant ecosystems. And with Fiona Murray, I examine the recent rise and de-stigmatization of defense and dual-use entrepreneurship.

Research Publications and Projects

Published
Turner, Brad R. 2025. “Narrative Affordances: What Stories Can and Cannot Do.” Academy of Management AnnalsPreparing or submitted manuscripts
Turner, Brad R. “Not all Good Stories Make Good Investments: Why Symbols Need Substance to Be Credible and Legitimating.”Rilinger, Georg, and Brad R. Turner. Paper on persuasion and coordination in financial markets [title hidden for review] (equal authorship).Select working papers
Turner, Brad R. and Georg Rilinger. “Short Sellers as Strangers: Institutional Conditions of Outsider Innovation” (working title).Turner, Brad R. and Fiona Murray. “From Defense to Offense: The De-Stigmatization of Dual-Use Entrepreneurship and Investing” (working title). Status: Data collection.Poskanzer, Ethan and Brad R. Turner. "Can Public Entrepreneurship Programs Create Jobs Outside of Dominant Ecosystems? Analysis of an Accelerator and Pitch Competition’s Regional Impact." Status: Data collectionKalvapalle, Sai, Brad R. Turner, and Fiona Murray. Study on entrepreneurial pitching and gender. Status: Data collection.

Teaching

I'm a dedicated teacher with extensive experience. At MIT, I have served as TA for classes on strategy, leadership, and research design, including a three-year focus on Sloan's pathbreaking EMBA hackathon, which afforded many opportunities to present to and mentor students. I also earned MIT's Grad Teaching Certificate, served as Sloan's Teaching Development Fellow, and co-wrote two Case Teaching Notes with HBS Professor Ranjay Gulati. Previously, I designed and taught an undergraduate elective at my alma mater, Syracuse University.

Personal Background and New Connections

As a researcher and teacher, I draw inspiration from professional experience in finance and macroeconomics. I have worked as an analyst at Bridgewater Associates and macroeconomic forecaster at Moody's, as well as lab manager at Cornell-Johnson.I hold a M.A. in sociology from the University of Chicago; a B.S. in economics from Syracuse University; and was Fulbright Fellow in philosophy at the University of Helsinki.I find balance in the outdoors, music, and community, and always enjoy connecting with social scientists, students, and professionals. Reach out to meet.