Connecting the CMU Community with PE/VC Data: Positioning CMU Libraries as a Strategic Partner for Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurial research is quickly becoming one of the major forces on campus at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). The newly created Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship as well as various classes and programs devoted to innovation in healthcare and technology at the Tepper School of Business and College of Engineering, have created an environment where faculty, students, and staff are encouraged to pursue entrepreneurial projects. As a result, there is an ever increasing demand for private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) data for benchmarking, competitive intelligence, and startup research. In response to this, our goal is to position CMU Libraries as a strategic partner with those entities on campus that need this data and expertise. This paper will discuss the acquisition of data sources, the development of presentations and workshops on this type of data, and the different groups on campus with whom the libraries collaborate in this space. Next steps include an environmental scan and forming a commercialization team of librarians dedicated to these research efforts