If you are an aspiring founder in Salt Lake City, the odds just tilted a bit in your favor. A new analysis out of Stanford University puts the University of Utah alumni at the very top nationwide when it comes to launching privately held companies valued at 1 billion dollars or more. The study, released this month, finds that earning a Utah degree raises the likelihood that a graduate who later raises venture capital will end up leading a "unicorn" company by roughly 2.3 times the overall average. Campus leaders say the showing reflects years of investment in hands-on entrepreneurship programs and on-campus startup spaces.
Study and methodology
Stanford Graduate School of Business professor Ilya Strebulaev, founder of the school's Venture Capital Initiative, compiled the ranking and spelled out his methodology in a LinkedIn post. According to Ilya Strebulaev, the team matched the undergraduate institutions of 4,366 U.S.-based unicorn founders with a random comparison group of 3,526 venture capital-backed founders, then calculated an "odds ratio" to identify which schools are overrepresented among unicorn creators. Local outlets quickly picked up the finding, including reporting by KSL.
Campus programs get credit
The university and its entrepreneurship arm are pointing to the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute as a major driver of those odds. In a university press release, President Taylor Randall said the ranking "reflects what sets the University of Utah apart," while Lassonde's executive director Scott Holley highlighted the institute's mix of "space, mentorship, funding, and community" that helps students turn ideas into companies. The Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute notes that it launched in 2001, operates Lassonde Studios, a five-story living-and-learning innovation hub, and began the Lassonde for Life alumni program in 2022.
Odds versus head counts
Strebulaev has been careful to point out that the list is about likelihood, not sheer volume. "Stanford and MIT produce the most unicorn founders. But the University of Utah gives you the best odds," he wrote. The study restricted its ranking to schools associated with at least 10 unicorns and adjusted for the overrepresentation of venture-backed founders who attended elite universities, so a high odds ratio signals overperformance relative to a school's share of founders. For readers who want the technical fine print, Strebulaev's post lays out the matching approach and definitions used in the analysis.
What this means locally
For students and founders in Salt Lake City, the ranking is both a marketing win and a fresh talking point for investor pitches and alumni donors. University leaders argue the numbers validate years of programming aimed at turning classroom projects into commercial products, while state economic development groups have leaned on similar data points to sell Utah's broader startup ecosystem. Readers can find the university's full release via the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute.
