For more than a year, Mike Alvarez Cohen studied the development of UC Berkeley as a center for entrepreneurship and startups. His research included case studies of founders and their companies, as well as examples showing how innovators at the university built an ecosystem that led to the creation of hundreds of new businesses each year.
During reviews of his early drafts, many suggested that Berkeley’s success was inevitable because of its location near Silicon Valley. Cohen, who is the director of innovation ecosystem development at UC Berkeley, considered this view but questioned whether it was accurate. He found his answer while reading historical documents from the 20th century that described college campuses’ relationships with industry. Until the 1990s, UC Berkeley was often indifferent or even hostile to industry partnerships. Many leaders and faculty saw business collaborations as inappropriate since much campus research was funded by taxpayers, and some disapproved of applied research altogether.
Cohen discovered that only through deliberate changes in culture and policy did Berkeley become open to collaborating with industry and startups. This shift was not guaranteed but required effort over time.
This realization became central to Cohen’s new book, “Startup Campus: How UC Berkeley Became an Unexpected Leader in Entrepreneurship and Startups,” published this month. The 214-page book traces Berkeley’s history from its early opposition to business partnerships to its current status as a leading institution for generating startups and entrepreneurial leaders.
Free digital copies are available for students, faculty, and staff with CalNet authentication. A new website has also been launched where individuals can share their startup stories. Additional campus events are planned throughout the semester to highlight the book and related stories.
“The publication is like a startup’s exit into an IPO or acquisition,” Cohen said. “It’s not the end of the journey, but it’s a culminating milestone.”
The book consists of six chapters documenting different stages in Berkeley’s innovation network—from initial efforts by electrical engineering and computer science faculty in the 1960s to today’s network of programs and accelerators.
“Nearly 100 faculty, staff and alumni contributed to this story,” said Chancellor Rich Lyons, who wrote the foreword for the book. “It’s built on our research strength, our culture of questioning and our drive to make a difference. This is a new model for higher ed, one where scholars and entrepreneurs work together to scale impact for society.”
Cohen began considering this project in 2017 after discussing it with Caroline Winnett, executive director of Berkeley SkyDeck. At that time he decided not to proceed until he had developed a clearer narrative arc.
By late 2023, with UC Berkeley ranked No. 1 in venture-backed startups founded by undergraduate alumni—and campus leadership openly supporting entrepreneurship—the time seemed right for such a publication.
“Executive leadership wasn’t just supporting innovation and entrepreneurship,” Cohen said. “They were championing it.”
He sent his proposal to Lyons—then serving as UC Berkeley’s first innovation officer—who responded enthusiastically about making it a campus-wide effort. The project officially started in February 2024.
Laura Hassner, executive director for innovation at UC Berkeley, also supported Cohen from the start; she noted that donor funding made possible what she called an ambitious but necessary project.
“We knew Berkeley was punching above our weight in innovation and entrepreneurship, and it was time for the world to know,” Hassner said. “With his deep knowledge of I&E and his experience as a published author, Mike was absolutely the right person to lead this donor-funded effort.”
While Cohen served as principal author—with support from Hassner and Darren Cooke (Berkeley’s chief innovation officer)—he emphasized teamwork throughout production.
“This hobby taught me that the best stories are character-driven,” Cohen said about writing under his pen name Singularitive Ranch on other projects involving fictionalized versions of university researchers tackling major challenges: “So with this nonfiction UC Berkeley book…the arc is its unexpected journey to entrepreneurship excellence.”
Cohen noted producing such a comprehensive work within nineteen months was unusual since none worked full-time on it; however he felt sharing how public universities can benefit society through teaching paired with innovation is important—especially amid skepticism about American higher education.
He sees “Startup Campus” not only as chronicling one institution’s journey but also providing insights other universities might use when integrating teaching with broader societal goals:
“I’m particularly proud to have been a part of the team that wrote the story about part of what makes Berkeley special,” Cohen said. “The book’s emergence, like the rise of our startup campus, was anything but a solo effort.”
More information—including downloads—is available at https://startupcampus.berkeley.edu/.
