Edward B. Roberts

Celebrating Entrepreneurs is a first-hand account of the past, present, and future of entrepreneurship at MIT from the man who has led those endeavors since the beginning.Edward B. Roberts has created a history of the seminal role of MIT's faculty and alumni in transforming entrepreneurship into a discipline worthy of rigorous academic study; and forming and building the many organizations that constitute the 'MIT entrepreneurial ecosystem'. They in turn nurtured the founding and investing in thousands of start-up companies that pioneered new industries. MIT spinoff firms annually generate multiple trillions of dollars of global revenues, employing several million people worldwide!Structured in two parts, the book first showcases how the unique atmosphere at MIT encourages its innovative entrepreneurs to thrive. Then, with in-depth coverage of the founders and companies that pioneered four industries — biotechnology, the Internet, from CAD-CAM to robotics, and modern finance — plus many other successful firms, Professor Roberts analyzes how MIT's most successful entrepreneurs have capitalized on that environment and culture to build companies that have lasted for decades. Both internal and external to MIT, the founders of these organizations and companies tell their own stories, describing their motivations, challenges, and outcomes.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation at MIT: Continuing Global Growth and Impact updates an earlier survey (Entrepreneurial Impact: The Role of MIT) to explore the continuing contribution of MIT alumni to innovation and entrepreneurship in the United States and worldwide. This update is particularly salient given the burgeoning interest in the role of universities in economic growth and the fact that students who graduated between 2004 and 2014 faced a more difficult economic climate. On the one hand, fund raising and capital access became more challenging as the U.S. economy entered a period of deep recession starting at the end of 2007, and venture capital asSets and investments declined. On the other hand, entrepreneurship concurrently became a potentially more appealing career choice due both to structural and perceptual changes in traditional employment and occupations, as well as to an apparent groundswell in young people's interests in entrepreneurial endeavors. Overall, our new findings indicate that MIT alumni are engaged in entrepreneurship and innovation at ever increasing rates, and at earlier and earlier stages in their lives.

Entrepreneurial Impact helps us understand the economic impact of the entrepreneurial ventures of university graduates. We know that some universities play an important role in many economies through their core education, research and development, and other spillovers. But in order to support economic growth through entrepreneurship, universities must create a culture and programs that make entrepreneurship widely accessible to students.While MIT's leadership in developing successful entrepreneurs has been evident anecdotally, this study - one of the largest surveys of entrepreneur alumni ever conducted - quantifies the significant impact of MIT's entrepreneurial ecosystem that supports firm startups. And, while MIT is more unique and unusual in the programs it offers and in its historical culture of entrepreneurship, MIT provides a benchmark by which other institutions can gauge the economic impact of their alumni entrepreneurs.This report also provides numerous examples of programs and practices that might be adopted, intact or modified as needed, by other universities that seek enhanced entrepreneurial development. Finally, the Appendix identifies several universities that have carried out surveys of alumni entrepreneurs.

This is a book about the formation, development, and success or failure of new high technology companies, focusing on those that grew under the auspices of entrepreneurs from MIT in Boston at the end of World War Two. Edward Roberts has conducted extensive empirical research on these firms for the past 25 years and has written widely on the subject. He is one of the acknowledged academic experts on entrepreneurship. This book is the culmination of his work and synthesizes his findings.