Recently numerous commentators have raised serious concerns over the inability of the academic system to appropriately deal with the rapid growth in the number of postdocs it is training – particularly in light of the far more moderate growth in the number of permanent academic positions. Concomitantly, in the context of an increased emphasis for universities to contribute to economic activity, many commentators have criticized the poor entrepreneurial performance of universities. Here I explore various proposed remedies to the postdoc problem and to the poor entrepreneurial performance of universities. I highlight shared interests in each other’s missions and suggest that a solution to the postdoc problem could be found in the vision of the ‘entrepreneurial university’.