MIT Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Global Leadership

For Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurship is reshaping the corporate culture
MIT Sloan Fellows tap into one of the most fertile entrepreneurial climates on earth. MIT researchers are perpetually developing innovations in technology and business and discovering the best practices for intersecting the two. This vibrant climate of invention has positioned MIT as one of the world's most powerful centers of e-commerce and technological entrepreneurship.

A national study in the mid 1990s noted that if the 4,000 companies founded by MIT alumni and faculty formed an independent nation, that country would hold the 24th largest economy in the world. Since then, MIT entrepreneurs have launched an additional 1,000 companies and are creating new industries and organizations every day.

If there is one crucial lesson to be learned from this legacy of success, it is that in today's volatile, hypercompetitive marketplace, entrepreneurship is not just for entrepreneurs. An entrepreneurial ethic is essential to the health and longevity of all organizations in the 21st century. Intrapreneurship is vital to growth and productivity in all companies, large and small.

Fueling intra- and entrepreneurship in new and established organizations
The MIT Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Global Leadership gives participants a deep understanding of the practices, benefits, and pitfalls of entrepreneurship. And it immerses them in an environment where collaboration — across disciplines, industries, and nations — is key to crafting successful solutions for the most complex global challenges.

One of the most dynamic centers of entrepreneurial activity on campus is MIT Sloan's Entrepreneurship Center. Its renowned $100K Entrepreneurship Competition, the first of its kind in the nation, encourages students and researchers with diverse backgrounds and interests to act on their talent, ideas, and skills to produce tomorrow's leading firms.

In recent contests, students and alumni from both the Management of Technology and Sloan Fellows programs have placed first or second out of more than 150 teams. The competition draws one of the largest audiences on the MIT campus every year and includes venture capitalists, patent holders, corporate sponsors, and investors, all interested in commercializing the discoveries and business plans being developed. The end result: Life-changing innovations are launched into the marketplace year after year.

An inside look at corporate venturing
MIT has also launched the Corporate Venturing Consortium to share and improve best practices for those larger industrial organizations that use strategic investments in venture-backed firms to explore new directions for their companies. The CVC meets three to four times per year, usually on the MIT campus, and also offers a one-week executive education course.