When we think about company founders, especially in the tech industry, there’s the enduring story of the college dropout.
Legendary founders like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg couldn’t be contained by college — let alone grad school. But sometimes the foundational knowledge and connections acquired in business school can be useful for a founder.
And business schools are just much better at helping aspiring entrepreneurs. PitchBook tracked business-school graduates over the last five years and found which ones were churning out founders and companies, as well as raising capital.
Many of the top schools on the list are, unsurprisingly concentrated around hot tech scenes. This includes the more obvious Berkeley and Stanford, as well as other rising hubs like Tel Aviv.
Read on for the 25 best business schools for entrepreneurs.
1. Harvard
Entrepreneurs: 557
Companies: 497
Capital Raised: $6.746 (in millions)
2. Stanford
Entrepreneurs: 394
Companies: 341
Capital Raised: $4.077 (in millions)
3. University of Pennsylvania
Entrepreneurs: 327
Companies: 285
Capital Raised: $4.084 (in millions)
4. MIT
Entrepreneurs: 219
Companies: 190
Capital Raised: $3.366 (in millions)
5. Northwestern
Entrepreneurs: 211
Companies: 194
Capital Raised: $2.273 (in millions)
6. Columbia
Entrepreneurs: 186
Companies: 174
Capital Raised: $1.267 (in millions)
7. INSEAD
Entrepreneurs: 185
Companies: 165
Capital Raised: $1.936 (in millions)
8. University of Chicago
Entrepreneurs: 166
Companies: 151
Capital Raised: $1.520 (in millions)
9. UC Berkeley
Entrepreneurs: 141
Companies: 128
Capital Raised: $1.253 (in millions)
10. NYU
Entrepreneurs: 120
Companies: 117
Capital Raised: $1.565 (in millions)
11. UCLA
Entrepreneurs: 118
Companies: 113
Capital Raised: $932 (in millions)
12. London Business School
Entrepreneurs: 94
Companies: 84
Capital Raised: $384 (in millions)
13. Tel Aviv University
Entrepreneurs: 83
Companies: 80
Capital Raised: $1.112 (in millions)
14. University of Michigan
Entrepreneurs: 78
Companies: 70
Capital Raised: $414 (in millions)
15. University of Texas
Entrepreneurs: 71
Companies: 63
Capital Raised: $370 (in millions)
16. Duke University
Entrepreneurs: 68
Companies: 66
Capital Raised: $266 (in millions)
17. Babson College
Entrepreneurs: 67
Companies: 61
Capital Raised: $416 (in millions)
18. Dartmouth
Entrepreneurs: 52
Companies: 48
Capital Raised: $583 (in millions)
19. USC
Entrepreneurs: 51
Companies: 50
Capital Raised: $460 (in millions)
20. IE Business School (Madrid)
Entrepreneurs: 47
Companies: 39
Capital Raised: $360 (in millions)
21. Carnegie Mellon
Entrepreneurs: 46
Companies: 42
Capital Raised: $729 (in millions)
22. Yale
Entrepreneurs: 43
Companies: 41
Capital Raised: $185 (in millions)
23. HEC Paris
Entrepreneurs: 42
Companies: 42
Capital Raised: $275 (in millions)
24. Cornell
Entrepreneurs: 41
Companies: 41
Capital Raised: $215 (in millions)
25. University of Washington
Entrepreneurs: 40
Companies: 36
Capital Raised: $69 (in millions)
This article is published in collaboration with Business Insider. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.
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Author: Nathan McAlone is a tech reporter at Business Insider, where he focuses on apps, startups, and streaming services.
Image: Pedestrians walk through campus, as seen from atop Hoover Tower, at Stanford University. REUTERS/Beck Diefenbach.
