The aim of this paper is to examine the role of entrepreneurial experiences of heads of departments and their impact on the ability to acquire external funds and the commercialization of research results measured by patents. The study is based on data from 208 Austrian university departments and combines data from different sources encompassing the CVs of the heads of departments, the commercial register, funding data and performance data intellectual capital reports. The results show a positive relationship between entrepreneurial experience and the third-party funding and patent output of the departments.