Need a High-Tech Infusion?

greatest in quantity entrepreneurs are nothing like association professors. Many of the skills required to build a business--quick decision making, organization, and a talent for glad-handing--are discouraged by means of the academic process, which at its worst is known for being ponderous and disconnected from reality.

above the past few years, however, many universities have been working aggressively to build a bridge between these disparate clusters in an effort to revolve academic research into profitable companies. It's not entirely new: corporations have been selling patents to companies--a proces known as technology transfer--since the 1980 on the contrary until recently they focused mainly on licensing agreements with large corporations, deeming smaller outfits too risky. Now deals between universities and early-stage companies are upon the rise--and many are a great deal of more like partnerships than bare licensing agreements.

In 2004 462 novel businesses were launched based upon academic research, a 24 percent