MIT as Catalyst for High-Technology Start-up Companies

There are more than 4,000 companies providing services and products worldwide whose roots can be traced to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) educational experience. While MIT's unique origins may be partly responsible for the success of its students and faculty in starting new businesses, the main success factor is directly related to an entrepreneurial environment that has been consistently nourished, encouraged, and sustained over the past 100 years. This paper provides the reader with a glimpse of MIT as a breeding ground for entrepreneurs. Its history, its geography, its position as a leading US research university, and its continued strong links with industry are all factors in its unparalleled success as an educational environment that engenders an entrepreneurial spirit among students and faculty that is exceptional.