Should ongoing business experience be mentioned in faculty job applications? I am currently on the academic job market, have already sent and going to send a number of applications (mostly to US universities). My current institution, where I am a postdoc, is among the top in Europe and has a very strong startup culture and support. As a result, I have recently co-founded a tech startup in my field, together with my professor/supervisor and colleagues. For several personal and legal reasons, I mostly work on the research and technology side of the startup, not on the operation side (e.g., I help with but don't directly go to seek funding, meet investors). To me, the startup is more like a side project, an experiment. My dream career is still in academia.

In my faculty job applications, I mention my business experience (co-founder) in two places: in my CV and my cover letter (one sentence). I think it could be a positive point as it shows I have some industrial/business/practical experience outside academia, especially when the job ads say "industrial experience is a plus / preferred."

However, on reflection, I am now afraid that this could actually be a negative point from the academic view, that could hinder my applications. For example:


One may think there is a conflict of interest (although in my current institution, many profs involve directly or indirectly in startups).
They may question my commitment to academia, like: how can he focus on academic research and teaching if he will be involved in a startup, which often take an enormous amount of time? Especially when his company is in Europe while he works at our university in the US.
Similarly, they may think I am not serious in applying to faculty positions.


Do you think I made a mistake including my business experience in my applications? Since I still have quite a few applications to submit, should I remove the experience completely?
The first time I taught I was hired solely on the basis of my work experience.  This was in a field that trains students for careers in a specific industry, but I doubt I was the first person to who this has ever happened.  Academics are not necessarily going to have a bias against you for having industry experience.  If you can teach and are an asset to the department that's what they'll judge you on.  Not abstract ideas of being the "wrong" kind of person.