Max Stern is a NYC-based startup educator and entrepreneur. He is a Faculty Lecturer in Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Duke University and the former Founder and CEO of Closure, Inc. (acquired in 2022).

In 2023, Max joined the faculty at Duke University and the Fuqua School of Business and as a Lecturing Fellow in Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

At Duke, Max teaches courses for MBA, Graduate, and Undergraduate student founders across all stages and industries. In 2024, his co-instructed course on scaling startups was named a "Favorite Course of MBAs" by the leading business school website, Poets & Quants.

Before teaching, Max spent 5 years as Founder & CEO of Closure, a death certificate verification company. He grew the business to 25 employees and led the team through its acquisition in 2022.

Max is also an active startup investor, advisor, and coach. He previously launched a series of Duke alumni-led software businesses through a venture studio model and currently sits on the board of Set4 and Pre-Series A startups.

Max earned his BS in Mathematics from Duke University in 2017, where he was a Melissa & Doug Entrepreneur. He now lives in New York City and teaches at Duke via long commute.