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MIT-Trained Entrepreneurs Create Businesses With $2 Trillion a Year in Sales

18 points by jasonlbaptiste 18y ago

moe 18y ago
Smart people build successful stuff. News at 11...
- rw 18y ago
  Don't forget that skills are needed, to implement smart ideas. MIT, as a specialized engineering school, is going to be an obvious winner here.
- nandemo 18y ago
  You shouldn't take that for granted. That doesn't happen so often outside the US. I went to a top Brazilian university. I don't have any hard data but I'm sure the number of companies founded by my university's alumni is much lower than MIT's. MIT's level might have smarter people than a top Brazilian university but I don't think that alone explains it. I live in Japan now. Most Tokyo University graduates aren't interested in joining startups, let alone founding one.
Spyckie 18y ago
So... these are the guys that don't start web companies but build companies based on real science, research, and products?
brunnock 18y ago
MIT did a similar report in the 90s. I read it and found that they were claiming that HP was an MIT company (Hewlett and Packard met at Stanford). I couldn't find a list of companies in the latest report, but I would take it with a grain of salt.
- bd 18y ago
  Exactly. This reminds me of one thread some time ago here on HN about universities claiming numbers of Nobel Prizes awarded to people affiliated with them [1]. This "$2 Trillion" statistics has the same problem - one person can have affiliations with many universities (BSc, MSc, PhD, postdoc, faculty, all can be at a different place). Additionally, a company can have founders from more than one university. [1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=400119 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=400119
deleted 18y ago
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ShabbyDoo 18y ago
Smart people are attracted to MIT. Smart people start companies. Does a degree from MIT actually influence individuals' propensity to start firms or their chances at success? It would be interesting to learn what the influence of SAT scores ( for example)are upon entrepreneurial success compared to MIT attendance.

moe 18y ago

Smart people build successful stuff. News at 11...

rw 18y ago
Don't forget that skills are needed, to implement smart ideas. MIT, as a specialized engineering school, is going to be an obvious winner here.
nandemo 18y ago
You shouldn't take that for granted. That doesn't happen so often outside the US. I went to a top Brazilian university. I don't have any hard data but I'm sure the number of companies founded by my university's alumni is much lower than MIT's. MIT's level might have smarter people than a top Brazilian university but I don't think that alone explains it. I live in Japan now. Most Tokyo University graduates aren't interested in joining startups, let alone founding one.

So... these are the guys that don't start web companies but build companies based on real science, research, and products?

brunnock 18y ago

MIT did a similar report in the 90s. I read it and found that they were claiming that HP was an MIT company (Hewlett and Packard met at Stanford). I couldn't find a list of companies in the latest report, but I would take it with a grain of salt.

bd 18y ago
Exactly. This reminds me of one thread some time ago here on HN about universities claiming numbers of Nobel Prizes awarded to people affiliated with them [1]. This "$2 Trillion" statistics has the same problem - one person can have affiliations with many universities (BSc, MSc, PhD, postdoc, faculty, all can be at a different place). Additionally, a company can have founders from more than one university. [1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=400119 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=400119

deleted 18y ago

[deleted]

ShabbyDoo 18y ago

Smart people are attracted to MIT. Smart people start companies. Does a degree from MIT actually influence individuals' propensity to start firms or their chances at success? It would be interesting to learn what the influence of SAT scores ( for example)are upon entrepreneurial success compared to MIT attendance.