The article analyses the emergence and evolution of universities towards a more entrepreneurial model. The emergence of such a new entrepreneurial mission, incremental in relation to the more traditional and consolidated ones of education and research, determines the direct involvement of universities in the exploitation of research results, more intense collaborations with industry and involvement in regional economic development. It is argued, nonetheless, that both old and new performance indicators have to be defined in order to monitor both positive and negative consequencies of changes which are taking place in university missions and strategies.