Grant Son

Grant Son is a full-time faculty member at Columbia University, where he teaches graduate level courses in Sports Management and Entrepreneurship.

Prior to joining the faculty at Columbia in January 2018, Son taught Entrepreneurship and Sports Marketing at Columbia Business School and the Yale School of Management. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia Business School. His applied research includes authorship of more than 20 case studies, including two published by Harvard Business School: National Football League and Private 5G (2024, with Andy Wu) and R/GA & the LA Dodgers on the Launch of the Global Sports Venture Studio (2020, with Andy Wu). In 2025, Son co-authored Chapter 11, “Managing Across Cultures: Sport Leadership,” in the Handbook on Sport and Culture (Edward Elgar), contributing research on global leadership, cultural values, and sport management using the Hofstede framework. Son also serves as an invited judge for research and academic competitions at leading institutions, including Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In addition to his teaching and research, Son plays an active role in university service and academic leadership at Columbia University. He currently serves on the School of Professional Studies Committee on Instruction, the SPS Faculty Committee on AI in Teaching and Learning, and the Sports Management program’s Curriculum Committee. In these roles, he contributes to shaping instructional quality, curriculum design, and program direction across the university.

In addition to his academic work, Son serves as CEO of Greater Good Ventures, a firm he founded in 2009 to serve nonprofits, charities, and academic institutions, later expanding to support startups, growth ventures, and established corporations. Significant engagements include Cornell University, HockeyTech, Sports195, and Sequel Studios.

As CEO, Son previously grew a startup into a top ten sports website that was acquired by ESPN. His professional experience spans more than 30 years in marketing, e commerce, and digital media at organizations including the NFL, Sports Illustrated, and CBS, where he acquired more than 70 million paid subscribers, generated over 4.2 billion dollars in revenue, and managed a 230 million dollar P&L.

Son is an avid athlete, coach, and lifelong sports fan. He has more than 20 years of experience coaching soccer and tennis, runs every day, and has attended every major global sporting event, including six Super Bowls, the World Cup, the World Series, the NBA Finals, the Stanley Cup Finals, championship boxing, and two Olympic Games.