Autor/-in: Mike Alvarez Cohen

Mike Alvarez Cohen is the principal author of Startup Campus. For over a decade, Mike has been involved with UC Berkeley's transformation into an entrepreneurship powerhouse through his role as Director of Innovation Ecosystem Development at the campus. In February 2024, while Rich Lyons was UC Berkeley's inaugural Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer, he co-launched the Startup Campus. book project with Mike and Laura Hassner, who was at that time Executive Director for Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and the Berkeley Changemaker program. When Rich became Chancellor in July 2024, Mike and Laura expanded the book project's core leadership team to include Darren Cooke, who succeeded Rich as Berkeley's Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer. Mike, Laura, and Darren planned and implemented the book project in collaboration with dozens of Berkeley faculty, alumni, and staff-many of whom are members of the campus's 100-person-strong Innovation and Entrepreneurship Council. The result was a campus-wide team effort over 1. 5 years to tell the story of how UC Berkeley emerged as an unexpected leader in entrepreneurship and startups. The Startup Campus. book project has been entirely funded by philanthropy, and all proceeds from book sales support research, education, and entrepreneurship at Berkeley.