About Mark Howard

My work sits at the intersection of political economy, political theory, social theory, and the philosophy of technology — with a particular focus on emerging technology governance and institutional design. I research, write, and advise on how venture capital, frontier technology, and disruptive innovation are reshaping the conditions under which governance is possible.

My first book, Hypergrowth: A Political Economic Theory of Venture Capital (University of Michigan Press, forthcoming), develops a structural theory of venture capital as a governance regime. My second project, Governing Complexity in an Age of Hypergrowth, asks how legitimate governance structures can be built for systems whose emergent properties cannot be fully anticipated — developing verification-based frameworks for accountability under conditions of limited observability and escalating institutional complexity.

I am a Lecturer in Politics and Legal Studies at UC Santa Cruz, where my teaching spans political economy, political theory, legal studies, and the ethics and politics of technology. I work across disciplinary boundaries by design — my courses bring humanistic and social-scientific analysis to bear on questions of institutional power, technological change, and governance. This includes curriculum developed for the NEH Humanizing Technology program, engaging 300+ STEM students across three departments in the ethical and societal dimensions of emerging technologies.

My research is grounded in over a decade of senior technology leadership in financial services and healthcare, and I continue to bring that operational experience to my consulting, advisory, and governance work. The problems I care about most require both theoretical clarity and firsthand understanding of how organizations actually function.

Through HU.MN, I advise organizations navigating the governance, legitimacy, and long-horizon risks of disruptive innovation and emerging technology.