An investor and teacher working out of both Boston and his native home of Belgium, Jean-Jacques Degroof has been involved with many student-entrepreneurs in the technology field. In August 2021, Jean-Jacques Degroof’s book, From the Basement to the Dome: How MITs Unique Culture Created a Thriving Entrepreneurial Community, will be available on Amazon. The book describes how MIT’s emphasis on Mens et Manus (mind and hand) encouraged students to translate scientific concepts into viable businesses.
Graduates from MIT have started some 30,000 companies that employ around 4 million people. Examples range from Hewlett Packard, Intel, and Dropbox to Qualcomm, and E*Trade, as well as new ventures such as MDaaS Global (medical technology) and Graviky Labs (environmental testing). The school’s business-creation initiatives began outside the classroom in student-led clubs and forums. Over time, the administration harnessed their energy into coursework in entrepreneurialism, taking advantage of MIT’s climate of risk-taking, love of experimentation, and grassroots decision-making. Mr. Degroof offers examples of how MIT has built an “entrepreneurial ecosystem” of faculty and staff members, students, and alumni that could serve to inspire conversations about entrepreneurship education at other institutions.
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