Could you or someone possibly elaborate on this? Why does UC Berkeley have so much better luck with startups and spin-off companies/technologies when compared to other public institutions?

It has an institutional culture (in the bureaucracy) of nurturing those startups. In particular, it has a very clear and permissive procedure for transferring work to private companies (see [1], under Outgoing MTA). You tell the university what materials (including IP) you want to use in your company, and the university negotiates a direct quid pro quo.

The Georgia Tech process, by contrast, seems totally ad hoc and amateur. "You can take stuff for free up to a point, as long as you agree to certain investment agreements with the university, and if you step over one of our unclear lines we will slap you down."

[1] http://ipira.berkeley.edu/material-transfer-agreements