Description

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.