Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and the Economy The impact of a scientific discovery can be gauged by its utility, i.e. the extent to which a broader community realizes benefit. Entrepreneurship is the discipline through which commercial value is built from an initial concept or start-up endeavor. This symposium examines entrepreneurship at a strategic level: Can a historical innovation process keep pace with global urgency in development? How important is entrepreneurship in the overall technology innovation milieu? How is an environment that breeds entrepreneurial successes established? What policies and actions of academic campuses, national laboratories, research institutes, and local government best yield translational benefits? Can entrepreneurship be taught? Are certain entrepreneurial success factors common across a spectrum of technology fields? Will the role traditionally played by venture capital evolve or be replaced? An early-stage company can offer an exciting environment for directed scientific research, technology innovation, and career progression. Businesses with less than 100 employees represent more than 99.7 percent of all employers, employ some 50 percent of the total U.S. workforce, and provide 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually. This symposium conveys the excitement and the challenges involved in launching and driving the early growth of a new technology company. Speakers will share entrepreneurial experiences, highlighting success factors involved in progressing an innovation toward real and beneficial impact.