University of Southern California entrepreneurship

The University of Southern California (USC) has a strong startup and venture capital ecosystem, supported by its dedicated Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. The University's incubators and accelerators, like the Viterbi Startup Garage and the Blackstone LaunchPad, provide mentorship, funding, and resources to aspiring entrepreneurs.

One notable USC success story is the co-founder of Box, Dylan Smith, who started his journey in entrepreneurship while attending USC. Box is now a publicly-traded cloud content management and file sharing service provider.

In the venture capital space, Mark Stevens, a USC alumnus, and former partner at Sequoia Capital is a standout example. As a philanthropist, he made a $50 million gift to endow and name the USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute.

Another influential figure from USC is Chris DeWolfe, one of the co-founders of MySpace. After leaving MySpace, he founded Jam City, a prominent player in the mobile gaming industry, which has also turned into a multi-million dollar business.

Other initiatives at USC include the USC Stevens Center for Innovation, which actively supports tech transfer, licensing, and promotes innovation within the USC community. The USC Marshall Venture Fund on the other hand, is a student-run venture capital fund that invests in USC-related startups.

USC also holds the USC Marshall School of Business New Venture Seed Competition annually, promoting the entrepreneurial spirit and providing startup funds for new business ideas. All these initiatives together enable USC to foster a vibrant startup and venture capital culture.