Stanford University

Stanford University sits at the geographic and cultural centre of Silicon Valley. No other university has a comparable density of alumni-founded technology companies, and the relationship runs both directions — the Valley grew around Stanford as much as Stanford fed the Valley.

Sand Hill Road, the traditional home of American venture capital, is immediately adjacent to campus.

Entrepreneurship at Stanford is less a programme than an ambient condition. Faculty found companies, students take leave to build them, and the surrounding investor community treats the campus as primary deal flow.

The Stanford Technology Ventures Program in the engineering school and the Graduate School of Business both feed a continuous stream of founding teams.

Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Andreessen Horowitz, Benchmark, and Accel all operate within a short drive. Stanford's own endowment and StartX Fund participate directly, and the alumni angel base is the deepest of any university.