I believe what you are describing is more or less what Microsoft is trying to do with their New England R&D Center (NERD center as they like to call it) located

I believe what you are describing is more or less what Microsoft is trying to do with their New England R&D Center (NERD center as they like to call it) located in Cambridge, MA. They recruit big time out of MIT, host tech conferences (2009 jQuery conference among others), and let their "startup teams" work on pretty much whatever they want (I think). Would be interesting if anyone has any more insider info about it to share.