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Stanford does not have a single entrepreneurship department. It has a web of centers, classes, student groups and offices spread across its schools. Some teach. Some license technology. Some hand out small grants or connect founders with investors. A few are open to anyone who shows up. This guide sorts them out and tells you which ones you can actually use if you do not have a Stanford ID.
Programs at a university this size change often. We checked each program's own website in October 2026. Use the links to confirm dates before you plan around them. If you are visiting campus for the first time, our Stanford visitor guide covers maps, food and parking.
Stanford Technology Ventures Program
The Stanford Technology Ventures Program, known as STVP, is the entrepreneurship center in the School of Engineering. It describes more than 25 years of work and a mission to help entrepreneurs create and scale responsible innovations. STVP runs four kinds of things:
- Courses. Its featured classes include The Lean LaunchPad (ENGR 245), Principled Entrepreneurial Decisions (ENGR 148 and 248) and Entrepreneurship without Borders (MS&E 272). They are for enrolled students.
- Fellows programs. The Mayfield Fellows Program is a nine month work and study program that started in 1996 and places students in early-stage startups. The Accel Leadership Program is a second selective fellowship. Both admit small cohorts by application.
- eCorner. STVP's free library of videos, podcasts and articles from founders and investors. It is open to everyone online.
- Events. Talks, executive roundtables and design workshops, listed on the STVP events page.
Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders
The best way for an outsider to tap into Stanford is the Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders series, or ETL. It runs as a seminar on Wednesdays from 4:30 to 5:20 p.m. during the academic year in NVIDIA Auditorium at 475 Via Ortega. Stanford's event listings mark the talks as open to everyone. Ravi Belani and Emily Ma are listed as the seminar's instructors.
The autumn 2026 lineup on the STVP site includes Carina Hong on October 28, Celine Halioua on November 4, Lauren Kolodny on November 11 and Demi Guo on November 18. Winter and spring speakers appear on the STVP events page as they are booked. If you cannot attend, the talks are posted on eCorner and in the ETL podcast. Our tech and startup events guide has more on getting there and other recurring talks.
The Office of Technology Licensing
Stanford's Office of Technology Licensing, or OTL, turns university research into products. It was established in 1970. Faculty, staff and students report inventions to OTL in confidence. OTL then decides whether to patent, looks for a company to take the technology forward and negotiates a license. Royalties are shared with the inventors and their departments and schools.
OTL's most famous license is the one that helped Google get started. The search ranking method that Larry Page and Sergey Brin developed as Stanford graduate students was patented by the university and licensed to the young company. Our Google in Palo Alto page picks up the story from there.
OTL publishes fast facts each year. For fiscal year 2026 it reported:
| Measure | FY2026 |
|---|---|
| Licensing revenue | $111.8 million |
| New technologies disclosed | 655 |
| Licenses and options signed | 102 |
| Startup companies | 26 |
| Active technologies | 4,721 |
| Technologies earning income | 1,003 |
OTL also runs the High Impact Technology Fund, which invests in Stanford technologies and startups. It also runs the Industrial Contracts Office for sponsored research. Its office is off campus at 485 Broadway Street in Redwood City. Founders who want to license a Stanford technology can browse its Techfinder catalog and startup FAQs on the OTL website.
The d.school
The Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, known as the d.school, teaches design thinking through hands-on, team-based classes. Its site says it has been growing for about 20 years. Students from any department can take its university-wide electives, so engineers, doctors and MBA students often end up on the same team. The d.school also offers workshops, tools and professional education for people outside Stanford. Some well-known products began as class projects, which is one reason the d.school appears in so many founder stories.
The Graduate School of Business
Stanford GSB's Center for Entrepreneurial Studies was founded in 1996 by faculty members Charles A. Holloway and H. Irving Grousbeck. The school offers more than 50 entrepreneurship courses. A few stand out:
- Startup Garage. A course in which student teams design and test new business concepts.
- Formation of New Ventures. A course on pursuing opportunities that lead to owning a business.
- Managing Growing Enterprises. A course on the problems that come with scaling.
- Stanford Venture Studio. A co-curricular space where students work on their own ventures.
- Entrepreneurial Summer Program. A co-curricular summer option listed by the center.
These programs are for enrolled students. The business school's Coupa Café on Knight Way is open to visitors and is a common place to meet MBA founders. See our guide to where founders meet.
BASES and student groups
BASES is Stanford's student entrepreneurship organization. It calls itself Stanford's home for entrepreneurship and focuses on fundamentals: learning from strong founders and talking about how good businesses are built. Its offerings change with each student board, but its site lists:
- Micro-grants and credits from Stanford and partners for early projects.
- Founder dinners and tech talks with engineering leaders.
- Technical lectures, factory tours and hacker hours.
- Introductions to venture partners and help with hiring for teams that are ready to raise.
TreeHacks, Stanford's large student hackathon, is another student-run event. Its 2026 edition drew more than 1,000 participants over 36 hours in February.
Biodesign and medical technology
The Stanford Mussallem Center for Biodesign trains people to invent medical technology. Its Innovation Fellowship lasts about 10 months and takes a new cohort each year. The center says 58 companies have launched from technologies started there and that its products have helped more than 22 million patients. Life science startups that come out of Stanford often look for lab space in Stanford Research Park, where Page Mill Labs rents wet labs.
StartX and university-linked funds
When students and alumni are ready to build a company, many apply to StartX. It is a nonprofit accelerator for the Stanford community that takes no equity and charges no fees. It is based in Stanford Research Park and plans to anchor a new hub called The Link in early 2027. Our accelerators guide compares it with Y Combinator and other programs. Several venture funds also focus on Stanford founders. See Stanford-linked and alumni funds.
How outsiders can plug in
Most of these programs are built for enrolled students. A founder without a Stanford affiliation still has real options:
- Go to ETL. It is free, weekly in term and the speakers often stay for questions.
- Watch eCorner. Years of past ETL talks and interviews are online for free.
- Check events.stanford.edu. Every listing says who may attend. Many lectures are open to the public.
- Look at OTL's catalog. You do not need to be at Stanford to license a Stanford invention.
- Take a d.school workshop. Some are designed for professionals.
- Meet people where they work. Campus cafes are open to visitors, though seats fill up in term.
Good to know
- Campus parking is limited and enforced on weekdays. Caltrain to Palo Alto plus the free Marguerite shuttle is often easier. See Stanford parking and transit.
- Do not walk into classes, labs or student spaces without an invitation.
- Coming in for a week of talks? Compare hotels near Stanford early, because rates climb during big campus weekends.
Frequently asked questions
Can non-students attend Stanford entrepreneurship talks?
Yes, some of them. Stanford's event listings mark the Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders talks as open to everyone. They run on Wednesdays from 4:30 to 5:20 p.m. during the academic year in NVIDIA Auditorium. Recordings are posted on Stanford's eCorner site and podcast.
What does Stanford's Office of Technology Licensing do?
OTL licenses inventions made by Stanford faculty, staff and students to companies, including startups. It was established in 1970. In fiscal year 2026 it reported $111.8 million in licensing revenue, 102 licenses or options and 26 startup companies.
What is the Stanford d.school?
It is the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford. It teaches design thinking through hands-on classes open to students from any department and offers workshops and professional education. It has been teaching for about 20 years.
What is BASES at Stanford?
BASES is Stanford's student entrepreneurship organization. It runs founder dinners, technical talks, factory tours and hacker hours. It also offers micro-grants and credits for student projects and helps founders meet investors and hire.
Do I need to be at Stanford to join StartX?
Generally yes. StartX serves Stanford students, faculty and alumni. Teams usually need at least one founder with a Stanford connection. It takes no equity and charges no fees.