Management and Leadership
MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program
Dates:
Certificate Track: Management and Leadership
Participant Ratings
We are currently accepting applications for the 2014-2016 cohort. Applications are processed on a rolling basis. Applications will be accepted through July 1, 2013, however due to high interest, we expect the eight program slots to fill by spring as we will admit regions on a rolling basis.
What is REAP?
The MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (REAP) is a two-year program designed to help regions accelerate economic development and job creation.
MIT REAP serves to educate, engage, and enable teams from key regions around the globe in the development and execution of a well-designed acceleration strategy, focused on entrepreneurial activity that can enhance innovation-driven economic development and job creation.
To see the official MIT REAP website, click here.
Learning Experience
The REAP program enables regional team members to learn and collaborate with MIT experts, catalyze regional action, and leverage global best practice through cross-regional collaboration. Participants will attend highly interactive two-and-half day educational workshop twice each year. Between workshops, they will engage in significant action-oriented activities in their regions, leveraging faculty coaching and an online community of practice to enable regions to more effectively share analysis, execute action plans, and sustain impact.
Who Should Participate?
Through an application process, the selection committee will choose eight regions as members of each REAP cohort. Each region participating in REAP will assemble an initial cross-functional team of five to seven members.
Participants from these sectors will be executives and decision-makers with:
- An intimate understanding of their regional entrepreneurial ecosystem and their sector.
- The ability to influence the creation and implementation of policy and programs in their own sector.
- A demonstrated deep commitment to working with this diverse core team to impact strategic change in their regions.
Each REAP regional team will have at least one member represented from the following backgrounds:
- Government/ Economic Development
- Entrepreneurs
- Risk Capital
- Large Corporations
- Universities
The Champion: One member of the team (often in the Government/Economic development role) will also play the role of the Champion and will lead the team assembly, secure funding, and ensure team applications are complete. The Champion will serve as the team leader throughout the two-year program and as the main point of contact with MIT staff.
For more information and to see REAP teams from around the world, please visit the official MIT REAP website.
Application Process and Key Dates:
Steps:
1 - Submit Application to nominate Champion (rolling until limited slots are filled, before May 1)
2 - Receive Admissions decision by MIT REAP committee
3 - Champion Submits Signed Letter of Agreement to reserve a spot in the 2014 Cohort (upon acceptance, before June 1)
4 - Submit Final Team Application (before July 1, 2013)
5 - Submit First Tuition Payment (before October 1, 2013)
Please do not use the red "Apply Now" button at the top of the screen. Apply here instead.
Join the MySloanExecEd Community Group for this program to network with past, present, and future participants.
REAP Participants will:
- Understand key drivers of successful innovation-driven entrepreneurial (IDE) ecosystems.
- Deploy MIT rigor and use frameworks to assess your region’s capacities and to evaluate the current entrepreneurial ecosystem as a foundation for further analysis, strategy, and implementation.
- Build an interdisciplinary team to create and validate a vision of your region’s ecosystem at its full potential.
- Compare and learn from other regions globally through case studies and cross-regional dialogue. Connect to an active community of practice and collaborate with other regions.
- Design a REAP Acceleration Strategy to harness the power of innovation and entrepreneurship and accelerate growth in your region’s ecosystem.
"MIT's rich global experience with the practice of innovation-based entrepreneurship and creating companies, coupled with its faculty's thought leadership in developing a rigorous framework for other regions to do this more systematically, is a potent combination. We have already seen results from our ongoing discussions with the MIT Entrepreneurship Center, and we have a clear path to continue to expand our entrepreneurial capacity.”
Alex Paterson
Chief Executive
Scottish Highlandsand Islands Enterprise
All team members should be at a decision-maker level, and have the ability to influence the creation of policy and programs in their own sector. Additionally, they must have an intimate understanding of the current ecosystem.
Each regional REAP team consists of 5-7 team members, and will be composed of the following:
Entrepreneur
- Current or former founder of an innovation and technology-based company
Government/Economic Development
- Currently part of an economic or development team promoting entrepreneurship
- Able to make or significantly influence policy and programs
Corporation
- Employed by a large, influential corporation in your region
- Responsible for helping entrepreneurs through mentorship, partnerships, or investment
Risk Capital
- A decision maker responsible for investments in early-stage technology companies
- Understands the regional landscape of access to capital
University
- A professor, lecturer, or administrator who is responsible for interacting with research and/or entrepreneurship in a region's university or similar education institution
- Interacts with the process of taking ideas/technology to market
Learn more about team composition or view an example of a typical REAP team.
Application Process:
Applications are processed on a rolling basis. Applications will be accepted through July 1, 2013, however due to high interest, we expect the eight program slots to fill by spring as we will admit regions on a rolling basis. (Please do not use the red "Apply Now" button at the top of the screen.) Apply Now > >
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Fiona Murray
David Sarnoff Professor of Management of Technology Associate Professor of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management Faculty Director, Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship
Fiona Murray's research interests focus on entrepreneurship and the commercialization of science. She has done extensive work on the policies and programs that shape vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems including prizes, accelerators, patent licensing rules and proof of concept funding programs. She is broadly interested in the role of innovation and entrepreneurship in regional competitiveness. After a short time on the faculty of Oxford University’s Said Business School, Murray joined MIT Sloan. She teaches the “Innovation Teams” course, which assembles cross-disciplinary teams of students from across MIT to learn the process of science and technology commercialization, with a focus on evaluating a technology’s potential for significant commercial and social impact. Murray works with a range of firms, designing global organizations that are both commercially successful and deeply engaged with their regional ecosystem-including linkages to scientists and entrepreneurs. Her recent engagements have focused on relationships that span the public and private sectors. She is particularly interested in emerging organizational arrangements for effective innovation-driven entrepreneurship, including public-private partnerships, not-for profits, venture philanthropy, and university-initiated seed funding. Murray is well known for her academic work on how growing economic incentives influence the rate and direction of scientific progress. She is actively involved in U.S. and European policy discussions regarding the appropriate use of intellectual property and licensing in universities, the role of entrepreneurship education and mechanisms to build entrepreneurial capacity. Her research has been widely published in a diverse range of scientific and social science journals, including Science, the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Biotechnology, Research Policy, Organization Science, and the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. Murray holds a BA in chemistry from Merton College, University of Oxford, and an MS in engineering sciences and a PhD in applied sciences from Harvard University.
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Edward Roberts
David Sarnoff Professor of Management Technology Professor of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management Chair, MIT Entrepreneurship Center
Edward Roberts is the David Sarnoff Professor of Management of Technology, and the founder and chair of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is an expert in advanced technology management and entrepreneurship, a serial high-tech entrepreneur, and a leading angel investor. Professor Roberts has literally written the book on high-tech business creation and growth. His Entrepreneurs in High-Technology: Lessons from MIT and Beyond (Oxford University Press, 1991) won the Association of American Publishers Award for Outstanding Book in Business and Management. He has authored over 160 articles and 11 books, the most recent being Innovation: Driving Product, Process, and Market Change (Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2002). His major 2009 report (updated in 2011), Entrepreneurial Impact: The Role of MIT, documents the history of entrepreneurship at MIT and demonstrates the enormous economic impact generated by companies founded by MIT alumni. His own entrepreneurship is as prolific in academia as in industry. Under the direction of Professor Jay Forrester, Roberts was a founding member of the MIT System Dynamics Group in 1958. In 1990 he founded the MIT Entrepreneurship Center (now renamed the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship), which he has since chaired. He was a founder of MIT Sloan’s Management of Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group, which he chaired for more than 30 years. During the 1970s Professor Roberts co-founded multiple MIT programs in health care delivery, including an interdisciplinary PhD program in Health Policy and Management. During that time he co-directed MIT’s extensive collaboration in management and organizational development with the Association of American Medical Colleges. In 1980 Roberts co-founded and chaired for nearly 20 years, the mid-career MIT Management of Technology (MOT) Program, MIT’s first advanced degree program offered by two Schools. Most recently, in 2006 he co-created and still chairs the MIT Sloan Entrepreneurship & Innovation MBA Track. During the past 50 years, Roberts has become internationally known for his research, teaching, and active involvement in many aspects of technology management, including technology strategy, corporate venturing, product innovation management, and technology-based entrepreneurship. He served as co-director of the MIT International Center for Research on the Management of Technology. When not occupied with his MIT responsibilities, Roberts is actively involved as a co-founder, board member, and angel investor in many high-tech startups. He was the CEO and co-founder of Pugh-Roberts Associates, Inc. (1963), an international management consulting firm specializing in system dynamics, strategic planning, and technology management, sold in 1990 to PA Consulting Group. He is a director of Medical Information Technology, Inc. (Meditech)—a leading producer of healthcare information systems which he co-founded in 1969. He is also a co-founder and a director of Sohu.com, Inc. (1995), a leading Chinese Internet firm that was among the earliest in China. In addition, he co-founded and served for 18 years as a general partner of the Zero Stage Capital and First Stage Capital Equity Funds, a group of venture capital funds investing in early-stage technology-based firms. Later Roberts became a co-founding (and then the longest serving) member of CommonAngels, Inc., the largest angel group in Greater Boston. Over many years Dr. Roberts has been a director and co-founder of numerous emerging technology companies, including Advanced Magnetics (now AMAG Pharmaceuticals), Interactive SuperComputing (sold to Microsoft), InTouch Systems (sold to Comverse Technologies), Inverness Medical Technologies (now part of Johnson & Johnson), Pegasystems, and Tyco Laboratories (now Tyco International). In addition to Meditech and Sohu.com, Roberts’s current board memberships include Cooper Human Systems, Daktari Diagnostics, DynoMedia (Beijing), PR Restaurants, and Visible Measures. Professor Roberts also served on advisory boards for many companies and government agencies, including the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (1967-1970) and the U.S. Department of Commerce Technical Advisory Board (1967-1972), as well as task forces of the Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health, the National Research Council, and the White House. He has been involved for many years in efforts to stimulate the high-tech entrepreneurship of Israel. Roberts holds four degrees from MIT: an SB and SM in electrical engineering, an SM in management, and a PhD in economics.
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William Aulet
Senior Lecturer Managing Director, The Martin (1958) Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship
William Aulet is a Senior Lecturer and Managing Director in the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He conceived, developed, and teaches an MIT graduate-level class called “Energy Ventures,” which explores the new brand of entrepreneurship and innovation required to meet the energy challenge. He is also the chairman of the MIT Clean Energy Prize. A highly accomplished business leader, Aulet has a long track record of success. For over 25 years, he has raised more than $100 million in funding for his companies and has directly created hundreds of millions of dollars in market value. Aulet started his career at IBM and after 11 years was named a prestigious MIT Sloan Fellow. Upon graduation, he became a serial entrepreneur running two MIT spinouts as the president/chief executive officer of both Cambridge Decision Dynamics and then SensAble Technologies. The latter became a two-time Inc. Magazine 500 Fastest-Growing Private Company. With a presence in over 20 countries, SensAble also won more than 24 awards and was featured in Fortune Magazine, BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications for its innovative products and strong business foundation. In 2003, Aulet was recruited as chief financial officer to help turn around Viisage Technology, a security technology company with a dual focus in the areas of drivers’ licenses and facial recognition. During his tenure of two and a half years, Viisage developed a new strategy, overhauled its operations, made three major acquisitions, and executed two major fundraising rounds totaling over $55 million, including a highly successful public offering. During this time, the market value for Viisage increased from approximately $50 million to over $500 million. Aulet works around the world with single entrepreneurs trying to launch new ventures, and with large corporations—such as Danfoss, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Mobilink, and Saudi Aramco—seeking to achieve their goals through entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, and innovation. He also serves on the board of directors or advisors for a number of companies. Aulet is a regularly featured speaker at management leadership programs on topics such as entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, entrepreneurial marketing, technology innovation, creating sustainable and rapid profitable growth, financing strategies, and operational excellence. He also contributes as an Xconomist on these subjects to the popular and respected blog: http://www.xconomy.com/. A former professional basketball player, Aulet lives in Belmont, Massachusetts with his wife and four sons. Aulet holds a BS in engineering from Harvard University and an MMS in business management from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
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Scott Stern
School of Management Distinguished Professor of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management Professor of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management
Scott Stern is the School of Management Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management Group at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Stern explores how innovation—the production and distribution of “ideas”—differs from more traditional economic goods, and the implications of these differences for entrepreneurship, business strategy, and public policy. His research in the economics of innovation and entrepreneurship focuses on the drivers of commercialization strategy for technology entrepreneurs, the determinants of R&D productivity in both the public and private sector, and the role of incentives and organizational design on the process of innovation. He works widely with both companies and governments in understanding the drivers and consequences of innovation and entrepreneurship, and has worked extensively in understanding the role of innovation and entrepreneurship in competitiveness and regional economic performance. Stern started his career at MIT, where he worked from 1995 to 2001. Before returning to MIT in 2009, he held positions as a professor at the Kellogg School of Management and as a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. Stern is the director of the Innovation Policy Working Group at the National Bureau of Economic Research. In 2005, he was awarded the Kauffman Prize Medal for Distinguished Research in Entrepreneurship. Stern holds a BA in economics from New York University and a PhD in economics from Stanford University.
| DAY One SAMPLE | |
| 07:45 AM - 08:30 AM | Breakfast and Registration |
| 08:30 AM - 08:45 AM | Welcome, Opening Remarks and Program Overview |
| 08:45 AM - 09:45 AM | Introduction to MIT Innovation-Based Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Frameworks |
| 10:00 AM - 11:45 AM | Participant Presentations by Region: An Introduction to Each Regional Ecosystem |
| 11:45 AM - 12:30 PM | Framework Lecture: Foundations of Innovative Capacity |
| 12:30 PM - 01:30 PM | Lunch in Regions to Discuss Morning Material |
| 01:30 PM - 02:30 PM | Working Session: Applying the Innovative Capacity Framework to Your Region |
| 02:30 PM - 03:00 PM | Lateral Learning Session: Presentations by Selected Regions on Innov Capacity w/ Q & A |
| 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM | Leveraging Comparative Advantage: A Biotech Case Study |
| 04:30 PM - 05:30 PM | A Global Perspective: Comparative Advantage Across Regions |
| 05:30 PM - 06:00 PM | Wrap-Up |
| 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM | Keynote Speaker & Dinner |
| DAY Two SAMPLE | |
| 08:00 AM - 08:30 AM | Breakfast |
| 08:30 AM - 09:15 AM | Framework Lecture: Foundations of Entrepreneurial Capacity |
| 09:15 AM - 10:15 AM | Working Session: Applying the Entrepreneurial Capacity Framework to Your Region |
| 10:15 AM - 10:45 AM | Lateral Learning Session: Presentations by Selected Regions On Ent Capacity w/ Q & A |
| 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM | MIT Deep-Dive Module: How to Foster Your Ecosystem Through Competitions and Prizes |
| 12:30 PM - 01:30 PM | Lunch: Cross Regional Breakouts (3 groups) |
| 01:30 PM - 02:30 PM | Overview Lecture: The Development of & Impact of the Massachusetts & MIT Ecosystem |
| 02:30 PM - 05:30 PM | Experiential Learning: Tour of Boston/Cambridge Ecosystem |
| 06:30 PM - 07:15 PM | Mingle with Key Leaders in the Local Boston Ecosystem |
| 07:15 PM - 08:30 PM | Dinner and Keynote Speaker |
| DAY Three SAMPLE | |
| 08:00 AM - 08:30 AM | Breakfast |
| 08:30 AM - 09:45 AM | Framework Lecture: Linkages - Confronting the Challenge of Collaborating Across Sectors |
| 10:00 AM - 11:15 AM | Turning Workshop I Into Action: Regional Breakout Session to Determine Next Steps & Specific Plans for Action Phase I |
| 11:15 AM - 12:30 PM | Presentation of Regions' Commitments and Action Plan for Action Phase 1 |
| 12:30 PM - 01:30 PM | Boxed Lunch, Wrap Up and Next Steps |
Links:
This is an outstanding program that has the possibility of changing the future of entruprenurship, job ceration and economic development across the world. It brings diverse groups of people together to solve the complex problem of creating an entrepreneurial platform in a country and region. Participaents include government , large business, entruprenures, funding entities, and universities. The program allows this group of people to gain knowledge of MIT's experiance and succes in building entrepreneurial platforms and combine it with the unique set of circumstance, cultural uniquness and current opportunites. Building on this rich set of data, the program facilitates tapping into the collective intelligence of all participents to solve this challenge and determine the right actions which will deliver a successful and prosperous economic platform. Finally, the program is executed over 2 years enabling the MIT facaulty to coach the team on actually implementing the right solution for thier unique set of circumstance, putting theory into action and delivering real value for everyone. This is the first time the course ifs being offered, so their are some poitnts of learning, but the faculty is very willing to listen and improve. This is an incredible experiance I would highly recommned!