Faculty/Staff

Jim Taylor

Jim Taylor

Assistant Professor of Instruction
jitaylor@usf.edu 
St. Petersburg Office: LPH 314D
Vita

James G. Taylor is an assistant professor of instruction in entrepreneurship at the USF Muma College of Business and Nault Center for Entrepreneurship. He currently teaches undergraduate courses in creativity and innovation, sustainable entrepreneurship, venture scalability and student consulting.

Taylor has 26 years of undergraduate and graduate teaching experience in entrepreneurship, finance, strategy, innovation and business development. Before joining the full time faculty, he taught entrepreneurship at USF as an adjunct professor and worked as a business consultant with the Florida Small Business Development Center at USF. He has also taught finance and business courses at St. Petersburg College, Seton Hill University and Eckerd College.

His teaching emphasizes experiential learning, student consulting and the practical application of business concepts. Student work completed through his courses has contributed to multiple patent filings, National Science Foundation I Corps awards, a national television retail distribution agreement and operating student businesses.

Taylor received the 2026 Florida SBDC at USF Business Award for Best Student Consulting Teams in Tampa Bay for teams from both his undergraduate and graduate courses. In 2024, students from his course received the Best Undergraduate Consulting Team Award. His consulting courses connect students with Tampa Bay businesses to address practical challenges involving growth, marketing, financing, strategy and operations.

Before entering academia full time, Taylor worked in investment management, corporate finance & banking, consulting, enterprise risk and business development. He served as director of equities and managed more than $100 million in investment portfolios. He later held senior positions with financial services and consulting firms and founded a financial software company that progressed from a Pittsburgh technology incubator to institutional venture capital funding.

Taylor earned a PhD in curriculum and instruction from USF, with a cognate in entrepreneurship. His dissertation examined faculty perceptions of the components that make prominent graduate entrepreneurship education programs effective. He earned an MBA in finance from Duquesne University, a postgraduate certificate in entrepreneurship from Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in management with a concentration in economics from the University of Pittsburgh.

Teaching

  • ENT 3613, Creativity and Innovation in Entrepreneurship
  • ENT 4803, Sustainable Entrepreneurship
  • ENT 4244, Scalability of Entrepreneurial Firms
  • MAN 4945, Student Consulting in High Growth Ventures

Research

  • Taylor, J. G. "Faculty Perceptions of Core Components Perceived to be Effective in Their Prominent Graduate Entrepreneurship Education Programs." Doctoral dissertation, University of South Florida, 2017.
  • Scotece, T., and Taylor, J. “Funeral Home Entrepreneurs Find a Niche in Stockholm.” ICCFA Magazine, International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association, March 2011.
  • Taylor, J. G., and Hechavarria, D. “The Frank and Ellen Daveler Entrepreneurship Program: Fostering a Statewide Entrepreneurial Ecosystem.” United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Conference, 2022.
  • Taylor, J. G. “Faculty Perceptions of Core Components Perceived to be Effective in Their Prominent Graduate Entrepreneurship Education Programs.” United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Conference, 2020.
  • Fountain, M., Serrano, E., and Taylor, J. G. “Impact of Business Plans on Entrepreneurial Learning.” United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Conference, 2018.

Service

  • Judge, USF and Tampa General Hospital Healthcare Innovation Pitch Competition
  • Judge, Florida Blue Healthcare Innovation Challenge
  • Speaker and facilitator, NASA Patentthon
  • Board member, former Frank and Ellen Daveler Entrepreneurship Program
  • Former member, Board of Advisors, BlockSpaces, blockchain incubator
  • Developer and instructor, USF CONNECT, Tampa Bay Technology Incubator and USF Student Innovation Incubator Entrepreneurship Certificate Program
  • Adviser and mentor to USF CONNECT, Tampa Bay Technology Incubator and USF Student Innovation Incubator companies
  • Mentor to entrepreneurs and students from 12 Florida universities and colleges
  • Judge and mentor for entrepreneurship competitions, innovation programs and student ventures