Waiting for the Payday? The Market for Startups and the Timing of Entrepreneurial Exit

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashish Arora ◽  
Andrea Fosfuri ◽  
Thomas Rønde
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Model ◽  
Business Strategy ◽  
Exit Strategy ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Early Exit ◽  
Early Acquisition ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Exclusive Choice ◽  
Early Market ◽  
Technology Startups

Most technology startups are set up for exit through acquisition by large corporations. In choosing when to sell, startups face a trade-off. Early acquisition reduces execution errors, but later acquisition both improves the likelihood of finding a better match and benefits from increased buyer competition. Startups’ exit strategies vary considerably: Some startups aim to sell early; others remain in stealth mode by developing the invention for a late sale. We develop an analytical model to study the timing of the exit strategy. We find that startups with more capable founding teams commit to a late exit, whereas those with less capable founding teams commit to an early exit. Finally, startups with founding teams of intermediate capabilities remain flexible: They seek early offers but eventually sell late. If trying the early market is so costly that startups have to make a mutually exclusive choice between an early and late sale, startups sell inefficiently late. Instead, if they can collect early offers at no cost before deciding on the timing of sale, there are too many early acquisitions. This paper was accepted by David Simchi-Levi, business strategy.

scholarly journals CONTRACTING-OUT OF HOUSEHOLD WASTE COLLECTION SERVICES IN JAPAN

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (02) ◽  
pp. 443-455
Author(s):  
NORIMICHI MATSUEDA ◽  
JUN’ICHI MIKI
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Model ◽  
Inverse Relationship ◽  
Municipal Waste ◽  
Household Waste ◽  
Private Firms ◽  
Simple Analytical Model ◽  
Waste Collection ◽  
Contracting Out ◽  
Contract Price ◽  
Set Up

We first report three empirical findings from our survey on the contracting-out of municipal waste collection services in Japan: (1) the rate of contracting-out and the contract price are inversely related, (2) this inverse relationship tapers out as the contracting rate becomes sufficiently high, and the contract price even tends to go up as the contracting rate approaches 100% and (3) there is a significant disparity in the contracting rates between the eastern and western parts of Japan. In order to account for these observations, we then set up a simple analytical model and examine its implications. Also, we discuss the issues that a potential hold-up situation could give rise to when the services are completely contracted out to private firms.

From Rural Outsourcing to Rural Opportunities

2013 ◽  
pp. 158-173
Author(s):  
Aarti Kawlra
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Business Strategy ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Production Model ◽  
Overall Design ◽  
Key Innovation ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Production Company

Inspired by the potential of Information and Communication Technologies, henceforth ICTs, for socio-economic development, and supported by a university based technology and business incubator, Rural Production Company, henceforth RPC, was set up in 2007 employing an ICT-mediated distributed production model. This paper reveals how RPC, initially an exploratory project whose key innovation was its Internet kiosk-facilitated model of crafts production and local empowerment, morphed into a social enterprise catering to global demands. The context of innovation provided by the Incubator led to a transformation of an ICT4D (ICT for Development) project into a business venture through the practice of formal and informal questioning at every stage of its implementation. This paper focuses on the iterative method adopted while highlighting the role of the incubator in the overall design and development process of the enterprise. This paper is a reflexive mapping of the organization’s evolution from the original research agenda of outsourcing production cum rural employment, to one that privileges local networks both as a conscious business strategy and as an arena for collaborative change for human development.

From Rural Outsourcing to Rural Opportunities

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 16-30
Author(s):  
Aarti Kawlra
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Business Strategy ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Production Model ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Local Networks ◽  
Key Innovation ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Production Company ◽  
Distributed Production

Inspired by the potential of Information and Communication Technologies, henceforth ICTs, for socio-economic development, and supported by a university based technology and business incubator, Rural Production Company, henceforth RPC, was set up in 2007 employing an ICT-mediated distributed production model. This paper reveals how RPC, initially an exploratory project whose key innovation was its Internet kiosk-facilitated model of crafts production and local empowerment, morphed into a social enterprise catering to global demands. The context of innovation provided by the Incubator led to a transformation of an ICT4D (ICT for Development) project into a business venture through the practice of formal and informal questioning at every stage of its implementation. This paper focuses on the iterative method adopted while highlighting the role of the incubator in the overall design and development process of the enterprise. This paper is a reflexive mapping of the organization’s evolution from the original research agenda of outsourcing production cum rural employment, to one that privileges local networks both as a conscious business strategy and as an arena for collaborative change for human development.

The Australasian Food Products Co-Op

2011 ◽  
pp. 110-135
Author(s):  
Hans Lehmann
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Business Strategy ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Global Information ◽  
Global Business ◽  
Global Information System ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Many ◽  
Global Operations ◽  
System Migration

This case tells the story of a Food Products Co-op from “Australasia” and their attempt to create a global information system. The Co-op is among the 20 largest food enterprises in the world, and international information systems (IIS) have taken on increasing importance as the organization expanded rapidly during the 1980s and even more so as the enterprise refined their global operations in the last decade. Set in the six years since 1995, the story demonstrates the many pitfalls in the process of evolving an IIS as it follows the Co-op’s global business development. Two key findings stood out among the many lessons that can be drawn from the case: first, the notion of an “information system migration” following the development of the Global Business Strategy of the multi-national enterprise through various stages; second, the failure of the IIS to adapt to the organization’s strategy changes set up a field of antagonistic forces, in which business resistance summarily killed all attempts by the information technology department to install a standard global information system.

scholarly journals Analysis and Experimental Validation of a Piezoelectric Harvester with Enhanced Frequency Bandwidth

Materials ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haim Abramovich ◽  
Idan Har-nes
Keyword(s):  
Natural Frequency ◽  
Analytical Model ◽  
Vibrational Energy ◽  
Total Output ◽  
Frequency Bandwidth ◽  
Parametric Investigation ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Spring Constants ◽  
Advanced System

The use of a single bimorph as a harmonic oscillator aimed at harvesting vibrational energy is not effective due to its inherent narrow frequency bandwidth stemming from the need to adjust the natural frequency of the harvester to the platform excitation frequencies. Therefore, the present research focuses on the development, manufacturing, and testing of an advanced system based on three bimorphs, capable of adjusting their natural frequencies using tip end masses, and interconnected by springs, thus enlarging the system’s bandwidth. An analytical model was developed for three bimorphs interconnected by two springs with three end masses. The model can predict the output generated voltage from each bimorph, and then the total output power is measured on a given outside resistor as a function of the material properties, the geometric dimensions of the vibrating beams, the end-masses, and the spring constants. The analytical model was then compared with data in the literature, yielding a good correlation. To further increase the reliability of the model, a test set-up was designed and manufactured that included three bimorphs with three end-masses connected by two springs. The system was excited using a shaker, and the output voltage was measured for each bimorph for various configurations. Then, the analytical model was tuned based on the test results by introducing two factors, the quality and the stiffness factors, and the predictions of the calibrated analytical model were compared with the experimental results, yielding a good correlation. The calibrated analytical model was then used to perform a comprehensive parametric investigation for two and three bimorphs systems, in which the influences of various parameters—like spring constant, mass value, thickness, and width and length of the bimorph and the substrate beam—on the output generated power were investigated. The main conclusion from this parametric investigation was that by correctly choosing the geometric sizes of the cantilevers, the adequate tip end masses, and the ratio between constants of the springs, the frequency bandwidth is expanded yielding a higher harvested power. Typical harvested power of the present designed system can reach up to 20 mW at the first natural frequency and up to 5 mW for the second natural frequency.

Intelligent and Green Buildings Project Management Scope Definition Using Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI)

2014 ◽  
Vol 945-949 ◽  
pp. 3008-3011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tih Ju Chu ◽  
An Pi Chang ◽  
Chao Lung Hwang ◽  
Jyh Dong Lin
Keyword(s):  
Business Strategy ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Green Buildings ◽  
Project Planning ◽  
Automated System ◽  
Monitoring And Control ◽  
Project Definition Rating Index ◽  
Set Up ◽  
And Control ◽  
Building Project

The development of the intelligent green building project (IGBP) is the pursuit of a business strategy of an enterprise in principle and the launch of the project in practice. The IGBP is integrated with the application of the Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI) in order to combine the needs of pre-project planning. These are the steps to enhance the performance of project execution. The IGBP-PDRI model proposed to construct in this study is based on the life cycle of the engineering to set up different phases of work for process evaluation. The model of evaluation is divided into 4 sections, 11 categories, and 60 elements. Pre-project planning helps to forecast possible risks in the development of the project. In the course of project execution, quality requirement is satisfied through monitoring and control. These help to ensure the operation efficiency of the project, to the extent that the automated system of the building supported by green construction can meet the goal of sustainable development.

scholarly journals Labour market mobility and employment security of male employees in Europe: `trade-off' or `flexicurity'?

2008 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruud Muffels ◽  
Ruud Luijkx
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Outcome Indicators ◽  
Employment Security ◽  
Transition Models ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Impact

The dominant view in economics is that increasing demands for flexibility on the labour market jeopardizes employment security. However, against the prediction of a negative relationship or a`trade-off' between flexibility and security, there is evidence for a positive, mutually reinforcing relationship known as the `flexicurity' thesis. Using comparative panel data for 14 European countries, we elaborate dynamic outcome indicators for flexibility and employment security to assess the differences across countries and welfare regimes in balancing the two.We estimate transition models to explain the observed mobility patterns.The outcomes confirm the impact of the institutional set-up indicated by regime type on these transitions supporting the `variety of capitalism' approach.The regulated Southern and Continental regimes perform worst and the unregulated Anglo-Saxon and Nordic regimes best in attaining high levels of flexibility and employment security simultaneously, though for both regimes with a small loss either in flexibility or in security.

scholarly journals Fatter or Fitter? On rewarding and training in a contest

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Clark ◽  
Tore Nilssen
Keyword(s):  
Incomplete Information ◽  
Selection Problem ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Heterogeneous Players ◽  
Fixed Budget ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Effort Provision ◽  
And Training

Competition between heterogeneous participants often leads to low effort provision in contests. We consider a principal who can divide her fixed budget between skill-enhancing training and the contest prize. Training can reduce heterogeneity, which increases effort. But it also reduces the contest prize, which makes effort fall. We set up an incomplete-information contest with heterogeneous players and show how this trade-off is related to the size of the budget when the principal maximizes expected effort. A selection problem can also arise in this framework in which there is a cost associated with a contest win by the inferior player. This gives the principal a larger incentive to train the expected laggard, reducing the size of the prize on offer.

scholarly journals BlocTrain: Block-Wise Conditional Training and Inference for Efficient Spike-Based Deep Learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gopalakrishnan Srinivasan ◽  
Kaushik Roy
Keyword(s):  
Autonomous Systems ◽  
Incremental Algorithm ◽  
Exit Strategy ◽  
Early Exit ◽  
Memory Overhead ◽  
Promising Solution ◽  
End To End ◽  
Four Blocks ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Memory Efficient

Spiking neural networks (SNNs), with their inherent capability to learn sparse spike-based input representations over time, offer a promising solution for enabling the next generation of intelligent autonomous systems. Nevertheless, end-to-end training of deep SNNs is both compute- and memory-intensive because of the need to backpropagate error gradients through time. We propose BlocTrain, which is a scalable and complexity-aware incremental algorithm for memory-efficient training of deep SNNs. We divide a deep SNN into blocks, where each block consists of few convolutional layers followed by a classifier. We train the blocks sequentially using local errors from the classifier. Once a given block is trained, our algorithm dynamically figures out easy vs. hard classes using the class-wise accuracy, and trains the deeper block only on the hard class inputs. In addition, we also incorporate a hard class detector (HCD) per block that is used during inference to exit early for the easy class inputs and activate the deeper blocks only for the hard class inputs. We trained ResNet-9 SNN divided into three blocks, using BlocTrain, on CIFAR-10 and obtained 86.4% accuracy, which is achieved with up to 2.95× lower memory requirement during the course of training, and 1.89× compute efficiency per inference (due to early exit strategy) with 1.45× memory overhead (primarily due to classifier weights) compared to end-to-end network. We also trained ResNet-11, divided into four blocks, on CIFAR-100 and obtained 58.21% accuracy, which is one of the first reported accuracy for SNN trained entirely with spike-based backpropagation on CIFAR-100.

scholarly journals Vaccination strategies when vaccines are scarce: On conflicts between reducing the burden and avoiding the evolution of escape mutants

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Félix Geoffroy ◽  
Arne Traulsen ◽  
Hildegard Uecker
Keyword(s):  
Booster Dose ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Type Model ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Vaccination Strategies ◽  
Escape Mutants ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Dose Vaccine

When vaccine supply is limited but population immunisation urgent, the allocation of the available doses needs to be carefully considered. One aspect of dose allocation is the time interval between the primer and the booster injections in two-dose vaccines. By stretching this interval, more individuals can be vaccinated with the first dose more quickly. Even if the level of immunity of these 'half-vaccinated' individuals is lower than that of those who have received both shots, delaying the second injection can be beneficial in reducing case numbers, provided a single dose is sufficiently effective. On the other hand, there has been concern that intermediate levels of immunity in partially vaccinated individuals may favour the evolution of vaccine escape mutants. In that case, a large fraction of half-vaccinated individuals would pose a risk – but only if they encounter the virus. This raises the question whether there is a conflict between reducing the burden and the risk of vaccine escape evolution or not. We develop a minimal model to assess the population-level effects of the timing of the booster dose. We set up an SIR-type model, in which more and more individuals become vaccinated with a two-dose vaccine over the course of a pandemic. As expected, there is no trade-off when vaccine escape evolves at equal probabilities in unvaccinated and half-vaccinated patients. If vaccine escape evolves more easily in half-vaccinated patients, the presence or absence of a trade-off depends on the reductions in susceptibility and transmissibility elicited by the primer dose.

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