Helping women get the raises and promotions they deserve.
Research-backed advisory from someone who has sat on every side of the table: venture capital investor, founder, and twenty years teaching entrepreneurship and negotiation at Harvard, MIT Sloan, and Babson.
She has watched the room from every seat.
Lakshmi Balachandra started in venture capital, first as an investment associate at an all-male firm, then at the first all-women VC firm in the country, which invested only in women. She went on to found and run her own retail business, earn a PhD, and spend twenty years teaching entrepreneurship and negotiation at Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, and Babson College.
Along the way she ran a multi-year research study of the MIT $100K pitch competition. Her research focuses on gender bias, entrepreneur pitches, and how investors really make decisions. She has spent her career inside the rooms where these calls get made.
Her commitment is personal: she went so far as to sue her own institution for gender bias while fighting for the recognition and fair treatment she deserved.
Resonance Business Insights exists to put that experience to work for you.
How we work together
Deserved
Advisory for women seeking their next raise or promotion.
Workshops and speaking
Her productive-conversation sessions, built on improvisation and her research, for companies, schools, and groups.
Experience and credentials
- Teaching: Harvard, MIT Sloan, Babson – about 20 years
- Degrees: PhD; MBA, MIT Sloan
- Investing: former VC, including the first all-women VC firm in the US
- Founder: founded and ran a retail business
- Research: gender and venture funding; MIT $100K pitch competition study
- Press: Harvard Business Review (research feature), Boston Globe (profile)
What clients say
“Lakshmi is a remarkable professor and advisor. She makes every interaction feel fun and that you are heard. She is very insightful and has a ton of experience across so many disciplines. She was tremendously helpful in advising us about our company to get on track and become successful.”
Anonymous, Leland review, November 2026
Podcast
Coming soon!
About Lakshmi
Free download
The Deserved Prep Sheet: six steps to get ready for the raise or promotion conversation.
Ready to be heard in the room where it happens?
Your name and email go straight to Lakshmi’s inbox – she’ll only use them to set up your call. Prefer to pick a time right now? Book directly on Lakshmi’s Leland page, or write to hello@resonancebiz.com.
