This work deals with the transition from invention to innovation through an exploratory study of university-based technological start- up entrepreneurs' perceptions. In light of the differences among economic sectors, and of the fact that the capital goods sector is an industrial policy priority for Brazil and plays a role in technology diffusion, the start up entrepreneurs covered in this study belong to this sector. This dissertation has two objectives: collect and analyze entrepreneurs' perceptions on the passage from invention to innovation and on the opportunity assessment decisionmaking process that makes the entrepreneur to launch a start-up. Making use of interviews with entrepreneurs, this work discusses the factors that make the entrepreneur pursue an opportunity, what issues he considers most relevant in the passage from invention to innovation and, finally, the entrepreneurs' learning curve. This composite analysis, allowed to identify the importance of role models for technological entrepreneurship, the importance of business incubators, the role of federal government in dealing with the financial gap, and the localized nature of innovation and the long time it takes to cross from invention to innovation.