Institute of Technology (IT) alumni are well aware of the
impact the college and the University of Minnesota have had on their lives.
Recent survey results show that the entrepreneurial spirit of IT alumni also
has had a deep impact on the economies of the state, nation, and world.
Results of a survey released by IT in late spring 2005 show that about 4,150 alumni-founded companies active today employ more than half a million people worldwide and generate $90 billion in annual revenue.
About two-thirds of the companies are based in Minnesota. These companies employ more than 175,000 people and generate approximately $46 billion in annual revenue.
Companies founded by IT alumni span many high-tech fields, including manufacturing, biotechnology, communications, software, electronics, and engineering. But alumni also branched out into other fields, from health care to the hospitality industry.
“The survey turned up twice as many companies as we had expected, and their economic impact is just amazing,”says Mostafa Kaveh, IT’s associate dean for research and planning. “Clearly, IT has a huge impact on our state and the nation, and our college is just one example of the University’s powerful economic engine.”
Many alumni who founded companies reported that they gained experience early in their careers at companies founded by other IT alumni. Control Data and Medtronic, for example, served as the training ground for the founders of more than three dozen companies.
The survey updates a 1993 project that identified more than 1,000 companies with roots in IT. At the time, these companies collectively employed more than 150,000 people and generated annual sales in excess of $20.3 billion. The current survey, conducted in fall 2004 by Questar and supported by a grant from the Mr. and Mrs. George W. Taylor Foundation, drew more than 15,000 responses from the college’s 48,000 alumni.
What makes them tick?
So who are these entrepreneurs and how did they achieve success? The following stories profile eight alumni, founders of companies large and small, tracing their paths from University student to business leader. A willingness to take risks, an ability to find solutions to problems, and a vision for the future are the common threads that tie together these stories of success.
