The 25 top MBA programmes for entrepreneurs

Oct 20, 2015

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When we think about company founders, especially in the tech industry, there’s the enduring story of the college dropout.

Legendary founders like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg couldn’t be contained by college — let alone grad school. But sometimes the foundational knowledge and connections acquired in business school can be useful for a founder.

And business schools are just much better at helping aspiring entrepreneurs. PitchBook tracked business-school graduates over the last five years and found which ones were churning out founders and companies, as well as raising capital.

Many of the top schools on the list are, unsurprisingly concentrated around hot tech scenes. This includes the more obvious Berkeley and Stanford, as well as other rising hubs like Tel Aviv.

Read on for the 25 best business schools for entrepreneurs.

1. Harvard

Entrepreneurs: 557

Companies: 497

Capital Raised: $6.746 (in millions)

2. Stanford

Entrepreneurs: 394

Companies: 341

Capital Raised: $4.077 (in millions)

3. University of Pennsylvania

Entrepreneurs: 327

Companies: 285

Capital Raised: $4.084 (in millions)

4. MIT

Entrepreneurs: 219

Companies: 190

Capital Raised: $3.366 (in millions)

5. Northwestern

Entrepreneurs: 211

Companies: 194

Capital Raised: $2.273 (in millions)

6. Columbia

Entrepreneurs: 186

Companies: 174

Capital Raised: $1.267 (in millions)

7. INSEAD

Entrepreneurs: 185

Companies: 165

Capital Raised: $1.936 (in millions)

8. University of Chicago

Entrepreneurs: 166

Companies: 151

Capital Raised: $1.520 (in millions)

9. UC Berkeley

Entrepreneurs: 141

Companies: 128

Capital Raised: $1.253 (in millions)

10. NYU

Entrepreneurs: 120

Companies: 117

Capital Raised: $1.565 (in millions)

11. UCLA

Entrepreneurs: 118

Companies: 113

Capital Raised: $932 (in millions)

12. London Business School

Entrepreneurs: 94

Companies: 84

Capital Raised: $384 (in millions)

13. Tel Aviv University

Entrepreneurs: 83

Companies: 80

Capital Raised: $1.112 (in millions)

14. University of Michigan

Entrepreneurs: 78

Companies: 70

Capital Raised: $414 (in millions)

15. University of Texas

Entrepreneurs: 71

Companies: 63

Capital Raised: $370 (in millions)

16. Duke University

Entrepreneurs: 68

Companies: 66

Capital Raised: $266 (in millions)

17. Babson College

Entrepreneurs: 67

Companies: 61

Capital Raised: $416 (in millions)

18. Dartmouth

Entrepreneurs: 52

Companies: 48

Capital Raised: $583 (in millions)

19. USC

Entrepreneurs: 51

Companies: 50

Capital Raised: $460 (in millions)

20. IE Business School (Madrid)

Entrepreneurs: 47

Companies: 39

Capital Raised: $360 (in millions)

21. Carnegie Mellon

Entrepreneurs: 46

Companies: 42

Capital Raised: $729 (in millions)

22. Yale

Entrepreneurs: 43

Companies: 41

Capital Raised: $185 (in millions)

23. HEC Paris

Entrepreneurs: 42

Companies: 42

Capital Raised: $275 (in millions)

24. Cornell

Entrepreneurs: 41

Companies: 41

Capital Raised: $215 (in millions)

25. University of Washington

Entrepreneurs: 40

Companies: 36

Capital Raised: $69 (in millions)

This article is published in collaboration with Business Insider. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

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Author: Nathan McAlone is a tech reporter at Business Insider, where he focuses on apps, startups, and streaming services.

Image: Pedestrians walk through campus, as seen from atop Hoover Tower, at Stanford University. REUTERS/Beck Diefenbach.

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