Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship

The Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship educates and nurtures students from across the Institute who are interested in learning the skills to design, launch, and grow innovation-driven ventures. The center supports a variety of teaching activities in all aspects of entrepreneurship, which provide a combination of project-based and theory-based learning. Project-based classes include New Enterprises, Venture Creation Tactics, and Entrepreneurship Lab; theory-based classes include Venture Engineering, Entrepreneurial Finance, Introduction to Technological Entrepreneurship, Dilemmas in Founding New Ventures, and Entrepreneurial Founding and Teams. Over 60 subjects are offered, involving more than 25 faculty members.

All entrepreneurship subjects, described in the online MIT Subject Listing & Schedule, are open to students from all MIT departments, and support the strong community of MIT entrepreneurship and innovation. Subjects frequently feature lecturers who have significant real-world experience to share. The classes provide students with insights based on leading-edge research on entrepreneurship and related topics, such as the role of science and innovation in economic growth, and the characteristics of effective entrepreneurial firms.

Complementing courses, the Martin Trust Center also runs various programs, events, workshops, and hackathons. Among them are StartMIT, the on-ramp to entrepreneurship at MIT; MIT Fuse, a micro startup accelerator over IAP; and MIT delta v, the capstone entrepreneurship experience and premier startup accelerator at the Institute held for three months each summer. To assist students in managing the broad array of courses, activities, and entrepreneurship opportunities across MIT, the center runs Orbit, a one-stop shop for MIT entrepreneurs, featuring personalized recommendations, networking and career opportunities, a knowledge base of frequently asked questions, and much more.

The Martin Trust Center supports and cooperates closely with a wide array of related organizations at MIT, including the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation, the Venture Mentoring Service, MIT Sandbox, and the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship. It also supports a range of student activities including the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition, the MIT Clean Energy Prize, StartLabs, the MIT Healthcare Club, the MIT Sloan Sales Club, MIT Sloan Entrepreneurs for International Development, the MIT Energy Club, and many more undergraduate and graduate groups.

Bill Aulet is the managing director, Professor Scott Stern is the faculty director, and Professor Edward B. Roberts is the founder and chair. The Martin Trust Center is also supported each semester by a group of Entrepreneurs-in-Residence who have founded high-impact innovation-based companies and organizations from scratch and provide advice to students with similar goals.

For more information, contact the Martin Trust Center or stop by Room E40-160 for free coffee.