Entrepreneurship in Virginia

The Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia, December 1991

For several years, I've been thinking about what we could do to have a significant impact on business leadership and performance - here in Virginia and in the nation. I concluded that a great opportunity to make a difference is to develop here at Darden a world-class program in entrepreneurship.

I am confident that Darden is the place for this initiative. I have long admired Darden's faculty. I have developed a high regard for (Dean) Ted Snyder and his leadership. A good start has been made on an entrepreneurial program at Darden. Now is the time to take it to a higher leve1 - to make it a leader.

Why entrepreneurship and why now? I believe we are in the midst of an ecomonic revolution that may be transforming as the industrial revolution. This revolution is being fueled by entrepreneurs, new technology and the Internet. Long established industries are being transformed.

Consider the impact Amazon.com and its imitators will have on the retailing business and the impact of online trading on the banking and brokerage business. There are many others. New businesses created by entrepreneurs will become the likes of the Fords, Sears Roebucks, and IBMs of the past half- century.

I think this revolution a blessing for the American economy. The new economy is nourshing our longest sustained ecomonic growth. It is driving down prices and holding down inflation. It is challenging our largest businesses to restructure and become more productive and more entrepreneurial themselves.

America's entrepreneurial leadership is probably our largest competitive advantage in a global economy. America has always been friendly to entrepreneurs, but now, for the first time, it is supporting their ventures with an enormous flow of capital.

Many of our best and brightest minds are becoming entreprenuers. Entrepreneurial firms have replaced cousulting and Wall Street as the place to go for many MBA graduates. I recently read what was for me a surprising statistic. Of last year's MBA graduates from top schools, about 35% went to entrepreneurial firms or to venture capital firms. This persuades me that any business school that does not have exceptional competence in entrepreneurship will be relegated to the minor leagues.

Our purpose in providing these resources is to enable and challenge Darden to become one of the leaders in this entrepreneurial economy. Virginia is one of the largest homes for technology firms. This university can be to Virginia's entrepreneurial economy what Stanford and Cal Tech are to Silicone Valley. Darden should be the catalyst to make this happen.

Of course, Darden's reach and its aspirations stretch far Virginia. I believe Darden can now become a world class educator and knowledge resource for the entrepreneurial economy. Thomas Jefferson, himself an inventor and entrepreneur, would have insisted on nothing less.

Copyright 1991 Frank Batten