Date
3-2016
Department
History Department
Class
History 303: Research and Writing Seminar in History
Advisor(s)
Andrew Morris
Abstract
Entrepreneurship is an essential part of the free enterprise system that the economies of most countries including the United States are based upon. For such a vital part of the economy entrepreneurship is surprisingly a lacking topic of focus at the university level. Research and development has seen steady growth at top American universities, but at a general level smaller universities have either not implemented an entrepreneurship concentration or not placed enough resources into developing a successful program. California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo stands out as a smaller public university that has cultivated an impactful entrepreneurship program, producing successful companies, innovators, and entrepreneurs. The paper seeks to explore the roots of the entrepreneurship concentration and program at Cal Poly. Research of various sources such as course catalogs, newspapers, and magazines along with interviews of the founders, early participants, and alum of the program indicate that an entrepreneurship ecosystem has always existed at Cal Poly. This made for the program to be easily fostered and developed into the accomplished program that it is today.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cphistory/18