Building innovation-based entrepreneurial communities : an assessment of practitioners' interactions with academically driven curriculum

Abstract

A growing interest in innovation-based entrepreneurship has surfaced in much of world, producing a large body of related research and capturing the attention of those aiming to direct and improve the economic impact of "practitioners'" home regions. With growing research and limited examples of newly created and successful entrepreneurial communities formed, a dear gap has emerged between what the literature describes and suggests for the creation of entrepreneurial communities, and what practitioners are able to achieve. This thesis assesses how the MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (REAP), a program formed as a way to address these shortfalls, has achieved lasting and meaningful impact for practitioners who have participated in the program.