Faculty & Research

Edward Roberts

David Sarnoff Professor of Management Technology
Professor of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management

Biography | Publications

A long-time expert on entrepreneurial endeavors, Edward Roberts has literally written the book on high-tech business creation and growth. His Entrepreneurs in High-Technology: Lessons from MIT and Beyond (Oxford University Press, 1991) won the Association of American Publishers Award for Outstanding Book in Business and Management. His own entrepreneurship is as prolific in academia as in industry. Roberts was a founding member of the MIT System Dynamics Group, is Founder and Chair of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center, and was a founder and for over 30 years chaired MIT Sloan's Management of Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group. He co-founded and for nearly 20 years chaired the mid-career MIT Management of Technology (MOT) Program. Most recently he co-created and directs the MIT Sloan Entrepreneurship & Innovation MBA Track. During the past 45 years, Roberts has become internationally known for his research, teaching and active involvement in many aspects of technology management, including technology strategy, corporate venturing, product innovation management, and technology-based entrepreneurship. He served as co-director of the MIT International Center for Research on the Management of Technology. When not occupied with his MIT responsibilities, Roberts is actively involved as a co-founder, board member and angel investor in many high-tech start-ups. Roberts co-founded and was CEO of Pugh-Roberts Associates, an international management consulting firm specializing in system dynamics, strategic planning, and technology management, now a division of PA Consulting Group. He co-founded and is a director of Medical Information Technology, Inc., a leading producer of healthcare information systems. He also co-founded and serves as a director of Sohu.com, Inc., a leading Chinese Internet firm. In addition, Roberts co-founded and for 20 years served as a General Partner of the Zero Stage Capital Equity Funds, a group of venture capital funds investing in early-stage technology-based firms. He has been a co-founder and/or director of numerous emerging technology companies including Advanced Magnetics, EdTech Networks, Interactive SuperComputing, Inverness Medical, InTouch Systems, Pegasystems, PR Restaurants, UCAN-TV and Visible Measures. Roberts has authored over 160 articles and eleven books, the most recent being Innovation: Driving Product, Process and Market Change (Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2002). Roberts holds four degrees from MIT.

Working Papers: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=17432