Challenges of university entrepreneurship : models from the academy to project successful companies

https://doi.org/10.22490/UNAD.9786287786400
Alejandra Marín Betancur, ; Ángela Mayellis Melo Hidalgo, ; Jaime Andrés Baena Martínez, ; Liliana Marcela García Vega, ; Óscar David Correa Henao, ; Simón Echeverry Gómez, ; Yoing Mauricio Barco Montoya,

Synopsis

Until a few years ago, the role of universities in the creation and growth of businesses was confined exclusively to their academic training function. Their objective was to prepare managers, administrators, engineers, lawyers, and other professionals responsible for leading the creation, survival, and growth of companies in the state of the art of their respective disciplines. This role has changed substantially, shifting from an independent approach to knowledge — as championed by German philosopher Alexander von Humboldt — to a comprehensive vision of knowledge as the central axis for the development of society.

In its origins, the word university (a term derived from the Latin universitas, meaning universal) was used to define any type of organized community. From the twelfth century onward, municipalities in Europe began to be called universities precisely because of the diversity and plurality of individuals and enterprises that composed them. This definition is more relevant today than ever. In the current dynamics of entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems, the university becomes a central hub that connects, through knowledge, the various actors of society.

The modern university plays a fundamental role not only in the development of knowledge and competencies — including those recently emerging around entrepreneurship and innovation — but also in applied research, technology transfer, knowledge dissemination, and primarily as a connecting hub for the development of innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems. It is precisely this modern role of being the center of diversity and plurality — that universal role — that this book is concerned with.

Today there are a large number of research opportunities that can yield economic returns while simultaneously supporting long-term growth and improving society's quality of life. Interaction with the business world exposes universities to a set of interesting research problems and allows them access to more resources for applied research, greater economic returns, and reduced associated risks.

The knowledge developed by students, professors, and researchers can also be useful to third parties, once it materializes into inventions with registrable or protectable intellectual property. This intellectual property can be exploited, licensed, and commercialized to generate significant income for universities and, even more interestingly, to incentivize students, professors, and researchers to continue seeking market applications for technologies.

Another way in which universities can contribute to the progress of entrepreneurship ecosystems is by creating entrepreneurial capital — not only by developing competencies related to the conception, financing, and growth of ventures, but also by building relational capital that supports their development. Universities can contribute to entrepreneurial capacities by educating potential entrepreneurs, promoting the combination of different knowledge sources, and fostering diversity of profiles to form successful interdisciplinary teams.

Universities also have an impact by promoting the dissemination of knowledge, making it available to anyone who wishes to use it without incurring the economic cost of acquiring it. This is possible because, as Arrow (1962) defines it, knowledge is non-excludable and non-exhaustible. Some authors, such as Carlino (2014), Jaffe et al. (1993), Eeckhout and Jovanovic (2002), and Cassiman and Veugelers (2002), describe this diffusion process by saying that knowledge should be "in the air," available for anyone who wishes to use it.

Finally, the most important role of universities is to serve as the central hub of connections among the academic community, industry, entrepreneurs, investors, and public policy makers, with the objective of promoting discussion around topics related to the development of entrepreneurship and innovation.

The practical examples presented in this book are a sample of the progress made on many of these fronts, as well as of the concrete results obtained in our ecosystems. I invite you to study them, improve upon them, and replicate them, so that we may continue to leverage the principal source of growth and development available to us.

Keywords: university entrepreneurship, academic innovation, entrepreneurial ecosystems, technology-based firms, knowledge transfer, business models, business development

Desafios de emprendimiento universitario
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ISBN-13 (15)

9786287786400

Fecha de publicación (01):

2025-10-08
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How to Cite

Challenges of university entrepreneurship: models from the academy to project successful companies. (2025). Sello Editorial UNAD. https://doi.org/10.22490/UNAD.9786287786400

Series Administrative, Accounting, Economic and Business

Categories Research Book

Copyright (c) 2025
Sello Editorial UNAD

Published

October 8, 2025
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