scholarly journals Institutional Change and Early-Stage Start-Up Selection: Evidence from Applicants to Venture Accelerators

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina A. Assenova

Existing research at the nexus of institutional theory and entrepreneurship suggests that lowering institutional barriers to forming, growing, and exiting new firms can affect the types of start-ups that entrepreneurs found in a region. These institutional changes could influence entrepreneurs’ perceptions of the value of partnering with venture accelerators and potentially improve these sponsors’ capacity to select high-growth start-ups to fund and develop. This study evaluates these ideas by developing and testing three hypotheses. First, institutional reforms improve entrepreneurs’ perceived value of venture accelerators for resources that affect new venture development. Second, they reduce the average probability of being selected for new applicants, due to a surge in the number and heterogeneity of new applicants within accelerators’ local ecosystems. Third, institutional reforms increase the quality of selected cohorts for accelerator managers due to increases in the average quality and human capital of new applicants. To evaluate these hypotheses, I analyze data from 13,770 applicants to venture accelerators over multiple application cycles between 2016 and 2018 in 170 countries. I use a differences-in-differences design to estimate the effects of institutional changes on start-up selection after regulatory reforms that reduced the time and procedures to start new firms, obtain credit, and resolve bankruptcy for entrepreneurs. The findings have valuable implications for how governments, especially those in emerging and developing economies, can support high-growth entrepreneurship.

2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-53
Author(s):  
Diego Matricano

In markets characterized by strong competition, new knowledge and new knowledge development are generally recognized as the key means for an enterprise to gain competitive advantage. This knowledge-based competitive advantage is critical for all commercial ventures, but is especially so for high-expectation start-ups (technology-based ventures anticipating high growth rates). Even though the organizational processes of a start-up are still under development, the success of new knowledge development is affected by three critical factors – the structure of the enterprise, the organizational technology and the knowledge promoters. An analysis of these factors suggests that the role of the knowledge promoter is the key determinant of knowledge development success in the case of early-stage high-expectation start-ups.


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 26-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessia Pisoni ◽  
Alberto Onetti

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of trends toward start-up exits. Exits represent the “end phase” of the start-up process, at least for the founders and the early investors. For high-growth venture-capital-backed companies, exits are often considered the ultimate goal of building a profitable venture. These ventures are intended from the beginning to harvest the financial value created by the business at some point in the future, and return capital to early investors. Design/methodology/approach The authors tracked 5,744 merger and acquisition transactions that have occurred between European and US tech start-ups since 2012. Data are drawn from CrunchBase, the most comprehensive database of high-tech companies and investors with information on the companies and investors around the world. The authors then compared the trends of acquisitions between European and US companies. Findings Results show that US companies are far more inclined to make acquisitions than European ones. Acquirers of start-ups, both from Europe and the US, prefer to buy local companies. However, recently, US companies have started to show more interest in European start-ups. Thus, signaling that the European start-up ecosystem is growing and becoming more attractive for US buyers. Furthermore, results show that start-up exits typically happen within a few years after a company’s establishment. Research limitations/implications The research does not take into consideration the price of the transaction, or the amount of capital invested by venture capitalists in the high-tech start-ups that have been acquired. Further research should address this specific problem by helping European start-ups understand how to plan the exit phase within few years from establishment. Practical implications The results have important implications both for entrepreneurs/managers and policymakers. Early exit appears to be a global trend among start-ups. This suggests that the exit phase should be properly planned to happen in the very early stage of the start-up process. On the other hand, the research also shows that there is still a gap to be filled in the European start-up ecosystems’ ability to produce exits and create new large innovative companies (the so-called “unicorns”). Originality/value To date, there has been a little research about exits for young high-tech ventures. This paper will attempt to shed new light on this so far under-explored issue by specifically analyzing exits as financial strategy for investors and entrepreneurs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 553-557
Author(s):  
Tifa Noer Amelia

In recent years, developing economies countries such as Indonesia witnessing the growth of the incubator business for digital start-ups. Digital start-up is an early-stage business that requires to maintain its growth supported by the ecosystem. One of a prominent part in the ecosystem is a business incubator. This is descriptive research that aims to construct research question guideline and how to organize the gathered data using tools called Nvivo based on the provided evaluation framework.


2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 31-48
Author(s):  
Yasheng Chen ◽  
Johnny Jermias

ABSTRACT Based on the four major challenges firms face in the early stage of their life cycle, we identify and use financial and non-financial performance measures to predict the survivability of new international ventures. We use a sample of 3,729 new manufacturing ventures from the Chinese Foreign Invested Enterprises Database. The study sample consists of wholly owned ventures of multi-national corporations (MNCs) and joint ventures between pairs comprising foreign and local investors in China. The results are consistent with the study's hypotheses. Using the Cox (1972) survival model, we find that employee training, employee productivity, accounts receivable collection period, export intensity, and sales growth are positively related to new venture survival. This study contributes to the existing business venturing and accounting literature in three ways. First, it fills the gap in the existing literature on bankruptcy prediction by focusing on firms in the early stage of their life cycle. Second, it uses survivability as a measure of business success. Survivability is a more comprehensive measure of firm performance than traditional financial measures during the start-up stage because during this stage firms tend to carry large losses that make financial measures inappropriate. Finally, this study has the potential to help new venture managers improve a firm's chances of success by using customized performance measures that fit its unique situation. JEL Classifications: D21; G32; M41.


Biotechnology ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 1293-1321
Author(s):  
Anna Białek-Jaworska ◽  
Renata Gabryelczyk

This chapter concerns the subject of research-developmental activity of biotech spin-offs in Poland with particular reference to their strategy, determinants of their development and determinants of their financial standing. In the chapter, the authors analyse the determinants of biotech spin-offs and start-ups development in Poland in the light of the research commercialisation cooperation on the universities-business line. The literature overview contains the definition of a process for the commercialisation of the results of research and development (R&D) activity and components of companies' business models. The chapter defines key activities in the development of business models in the context of the commercialisation process and the life cycle of the company, especially at the start up and early stage. Quality-quantitative analysis includes the business models of seven biotechnology spin-offs traded on the alternative market of the Warsaw Stock Exchange, especially the structure of their intellectual capital, R&D expenses in relation to received subsides and grants, third-party shares in start up equity, and the ability to realise the “Go Global” strategy.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raffaele Fiorentino ◽  
Sergio Longobardi ◽  
Alessandro Scaletti

PurposeDespite the relevance of innovation in entrepreneurship literature, empirical research on the innovation-performance relationship in start-ups is underdeveloped and shows controversial results. To bridge this gap, the aim of this paper is to investigate the role of innovativeness on new venture performance in the early stage of the life cycle.Design/methodology/approachRegression modelling and propensity score matching are used to reveal systematic differences in growth between innovative start-ups (ISUPs) and non-innovative start-ups. We use an ad hoc dataset obtained through merging the financial database AIDA with data from administrative sources (Italian Chambers of Commerce and the Italian Ministry for Economic Development).FindingsThe results show that differences in growth can be explained by the different levels of innovativeness in new ventures. Moreover, unlike in prior studies, the innovation inputs matter more than innovation outputs. Indeed, the results support the idea that innovation policies can contribute to maximising the potential of start-ups.Practical implicationsThe findings provide suggestions for policy makers and entrepreneurs to help firms configure ex ante appropriate actions to support the growth of new ventures in the start-up stage.Originality/valueThis study is the first to use the new objective measure of start-up innovation, available from the Italian LD 221 register. Second, different types of innovation are investigated as antecedents of firm growth. Third, we employ propensity score matching, which favours revealing systematic differences in growth between ISUPs and non-innovative start-ups. Fourth, the results of our study are the first to offer evidence on the effectiveness of the new Italian sustaining ISUPs policy.


2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 329-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Walburn

There are signs that public policy is catching on to an understanding that not only start-up firms can achieve high rates of growth. More research is needed to find out what the needs of more mature enterprises might be, before policy lurches away from supporting early stage companies.


Author(s):  
Steven Rogers ◽  
Sachin Waikar ◽  
Scott T. Whitaker

In the fall of 2007 a senior director of product marketing at Qwest in Denver, Colorado, gets an offer to work for an entrepreneurial high-growth venture. The vision is for greater wealth, accelerated business opportunity, more thrill on the job, and faster path to leadership by pursuing a position with a start-up firm. Kiva Allgood has management responsibility in her current position (e.g., manages a high-budget portfolio), with compensation of $145,000 in salary and incentive bonuses up to 100% of base salary. She realizes that she is not prepared for the negotiation because she has only negotiated job offers within large firms. She needs to know what many of these entrepreneurial finance terms mean and to understand whether she is being offered terms and amounts commensurate with the value she feels she will bring to the entrepreneur. She also needs to understand her opportunity cost and the expected value of her options: staying with the current job, starting her own venture, or taking this offer at the entrepreneurial venture. She had no idea there were also so many additional, non-financial factors to take into consideration. With her future on the line, she needs to work through the numbers fast. The entrepreneur gave her five days to come back with a counter offer, which he considered a generous amount of time. In evaluating these questions, students will take Allgood's point of view. The case is based on a real job offer to a real person named Kiva Allgood. The entrepreneur and his firm are fictitious in order to heighten the issues in this situation.Exposes customary negotiations between a prospective employee and an entrepreneur, taking into account the valuation of the entrepreneurial firm, salary, stock options, ownership percentage, etc.; Examines the difference between considering a position with an entrepreneurial venture and one at a stable corporate organization; Looks at typical compensation criteria for entrepreneurial venture capital-backed firms; Introduces method for assessing an entrepreneur as a prospective future employer.


10.1068/c0049 ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Smallbone ◽  
Robert Baldock ◽  
Steven Burgess

Launched in 1999/2000, the new high-growth start-up programme is part of a shift in small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) policy in the United Kingdom away from a narrow focus on supporting established businesses with growth potential, to include start-ups and other types of SME. In this context, the authors consider some of the policy issues surrounding the design, development, and implementation of the new programme, with the aid of results from in-depth research in the East Midlands region. After a brief description of the new enhanced support programme for high-growth start-ups, and the policy context in which it was introduced, the authors review the support needs of this type of business and how the new programme might contribute to addressing these. In the final section they consider some of the wider policy issues raised by the programme in terms of the extent to which: first, effective regional models can be developed to encourage widespread participation by appropriate private sector organisations; second, access to appropriate finance, including seedcorn and venture capital, can be increased for high-growth-potential start-ups; third, universities are able to contribute to the generation of new business activity and become integrated into regional business support infrastructures; and fourth, the enhanced support programme is tuned to the needs of the target group and is effectively delivered.


2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 217-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colm O'Gorman ◽  
Martina Brophy ◽  
Eric Clinton

This case study explores the origins of a new high-growth family start-up competing in a traditional industry. Teeling Whiskey Company Ltd (TWC) is the brainchild of entrepreneur Jack Teeling. This new venture stems from another high-profile, family-based business named Cooley Distillery. Jack was Managing Director of Cooley Distillery, the business his father founded in 1987. At Cooley Distillery, he acquired a wealth of professional experience in whiskey distilling and selling. When the distillery was sold to a large US spirits company in 2012, Jack pursued his own entrepreneurial venture in Irish whiskey. A year after the business was founded, Jack was joined by his brother Stephen Teeling, and together they have shaped their idea for a boutique, premium whiskey distiller producing innovative offerings into a fast growing, internationalized business. Jack and Stephen need to build a niche for TWC, as many new distilleries are due to enter the market.


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