scholarly journals Challenges of scaling-up process for start-ups

Author(s):  
Marian Zajko

Abstract Start-up is just a beginning phase of a company life cycle followed by the growth or scaling phase where the growth potential of start-up can develop into a high-growth company bringing revenues, well-paid jobs and taxes. The purpose of the paper is to analyse the essence of scaling up and the relevant external and internal factors for successful scaling up. The research method consists in analysis of internal and external conditions for successful scaling up and related support policies in the EU and Slovakia based on the secondary survey data and relevant publications. The findings about the Slovak start-up ecosystem confirm the relevance of risks of scaling up for the Slovak startups too. Therefore next to the improving of the start-up ecosystem the Slovak policy makers should develop systematic support measures for the scale-up ecosystem in Slovakia based on appropriate scale up metrics and incentives for support of start-ups in order to achieve a higher proportion of gazelles in the economy.

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-187
Author(s):  
Mark Partridge ◽  
Sydney Schreiner ◽  
Alexandra Tsvetkova ◽  
Carlianne Elizabeth Patrick

Even as economic incentives are increasingly used by policy makers to spur state and local economic development, their use is controversial among the public and academics. The authors examine whether state and local incentives lead to higher rates of business start-ups in metropolitan counties. Existing research indicates that start-ups are important for supporting (net) job creation, long-term growth, innovation, and development. The authors find that incentives have a statistically significant, negative relationship with start-up rates in total and for some industries including export-based and others that often receive incentives. The findings support critics who contend that incentives crowd out other economic activity, potentially reducing long-term growth. The authors also find that greater intersectoral job flows are positively linked to total start-ups, consistent with claims of those who advocate for policies that enhance labor market flexibility through reducing barriers to job mobility.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Lee ◽  
Femke van Nassau ◽  
Anne Grunseit ◽  
Kathleen Conte ◽  
Andrew Milat ◽  
...  

Abstract Background While known efficacious preventive health interventions exist, the current capacity to scale up these interventions is limited. In recent years, much attention has focussed on developing frameworks and methods for scale-up yet, in practice, the pathway for scale-up is seldom linear and may be highly dependent on contextual circumstances. Few studies have examined the process of scaling up from decision to implementation nor examined the sustainability of scaled-up interventions. This study explores decision-makers’ perceptions from real-world scaled-up case studies to examine how scale-up decisions were made and describe enablers of successful scale-up and sustainability. Methods This qualitative study included 29 interviews conducted with purposively sampled key Australian policy-makers, practitioners and researchers experienced in scale-up. Semi-structured interview questions obtained information regarding case studies of scaled-up interventions. The Framework Analysis method was used as the primary method of analysis of the interview data to inductively generate common and divergent themes within qualitative data across cases. Results A total of 31 case studies of public health interventions were described by interview respondents based on their experiences. According to the interviewees’ perceptions, decisions to scale up commonly occurred either opportunistically, when funding became available, or when a deliberate decision was made and funding allocated. The latter scenario was more common when the intervention aligned with specific political or strategic goals. Decisions to scale up were driven by a variety of key actors such as politicians, senior policy-makers and practitioners in the health system. Drivers of a successful scale-up process included good governance, clear leadership, and adequate resourcing and expertise. Establishing accountability structures and appropriate engagement mechanisms to encourage the uptake of interventions were also key enablers. Sustainability was influenced by evidence of impact as well as good acceptability among the general or target population. Conclusions Much like Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Theory of ‘policy windows’, there is a conceptually similar ‘window for scale-up’, driven by a complex interplay of factors such as political need, strategic context, funding and key actors. Researchers and policy-makers need to consider scalability from the outset and prepare for when the window for scale-up opens. Decision-makers need to provide longer term funding for scale-up to facilitate longer term sustainability and build on the resources already invested for the scale-up process.


2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Orobia ◽  
Gerrit Rooks .

This study sought to explain the gender differences with respect to risk taking behaviour and startup capital in Uganda, comparing with other countries. The start-up capital of businesses run by females is ostensibly smaller than those run by males in Uganda and in any other country. A number of reasons have been forwarded to explain this variance. Some researchers have linked the size of start-up capital to the risk taking behaviour among other factors. However there is insufficient local or Ugandan empirical research into this difference, given that much of the empirical research are based on western data sets. Data for this study was from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2003. A causal research design was used to establish the relationship between risk taking attitude and start up capital. A comparative design was also employed to compare the findings of Uganda with other GEM countries, Chi-square tests, and a two way analysis of variances were used to analyse the data. There are gender differences with respect to risk taking behaviour across all countries under study. However, the gender gap is wider in other countries than Uganda. On the whole, Uganda women are less risk averse as compared to those in other countries. The start-up capital requirement of Ugandan men is more than their female counterparts. In addition, Ugandan men invested more personal start up capital when they are risk averse. Among other recommendations, policy makers should sensitise females about viability of business start ups and encourage women access to ownership of property.


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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 1167-1185
Author(s):  
Bala Subrahmanya Mungila Hillemane

PurposeBangalore has gained international recognition as a technology start-up hub for its vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem. Against this backdrop, this paper attempts to explore the structure and gap that exist with respect to the entrepreneurial ecosystem for tech start-ups in Bangalore.Design/methodology/approachA Delphi technique based four stage interaction with the experts/stakeholders belonging to different components of the entrepreneurial ecosystem (as identified from the literature) in the context of Bangalore is conducted, to gather primary data. This enabled us to define the structure of entrepreneurial ecosystem and analyse the gap that exists between an ideal ecosystem feasible in the Indian context and that one that prevailed in Bangalore.FindingsThe prevailing entrepreneurial ecosystem for tech start-ups in Bangalore is significantly different (lower) relative to an ideal ecosystem feasible in the Indian economic environment, as prescribed by the Delphi experts, both at the aggregate level and at an individual component level. The step-wise (backward) logistic regression analysis revealed that Bangalore ecosystem is primarily lacking in terms of one of the Triple Helices, namely, role of education and research institutions, and two of the five indispensable components, namely, market maturity and mentorship.Research limitations/implicationsIt is essential to strengthen and promote the Triple Helix base and the five indispensable components in an entrepreneurial ecosystem, to accelerate the emergence and growth of tech start-ups.Practical implicationsIt brings out the nature of entrepreneurial ecosystem structure and the gap between what can be considered an ideal ecosystem and what prevails in Bangalore currently.Originality/valueThis is a primary data based study, which has value for regional policy makers in strategizing to promote Bangalore ecosystem, and for researchers in undertaking “ecosystem gap analysis”.


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.


1969 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark J Ahn ◽  
Michael Meeks

The global biopharmaceutical industry, with over $70bn in revenues and 700 publicly listed firms posting double-digit growth in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific in 2006, represents an attractive and promising high-growth industry of the future. Broad scientific advances and commercial successes have captured the attention and aspirations of policy makers, business people, and investors alike in spurring sector growth. An understanding of the fundamental forces that shape the industry, including the challenges faced by entrepreneurs, as well as many promising industry trends, offer several implications for investors and policy makers. This study explores industry dynamics affecting growth patterns, biotech industry cluster evolution in an era of increasing globalisation, and enabling factors which support entrepreneurship activity, productivity, and sustainability. Governments and investors seeking to create and enhance biotech entrepreneurship face several enabling trends including increasing numbers of science graduates worldwide, accelerating pace of scientific advancement, dominating role of globalisation enabling greater collaboration, democratising forces of the internet, and the relentless competitive pressure to innovate. As such, policy agendas should focus on increasing factor conditions to enhance start-up formation, alliances, and skilled employment, rather than attempt to select specific winners and losers among specific sub-sectors or individual firms.


2003 ◽  
Vol 11 (04) ◽  
pp. 339-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
LENA LEE ◽  
POH-KAM WONG

Does an individual's positive attitude towards entrepreneurship education promote the growth of new ventures? It appears that it does. The empirical results presented in this paper support a prima facie claim that a relationship exists between attitude towards entrepreneurial education and business start-up. The aim of this paper is to investigate the hypothesised positive relationship between new venture founding and attitude towards entrepreneurial education (AEE). Limited if any research on new venture founding in the past has explored the contribution of AEE in business start-ups. A survey is carried out on a large sample (more than 15,000) of tertiary students residing in Singapore. In analysing the dataset, we have controlled for various factors in the regression analysis. Due to the limitations of our study, we are cautious not to assert any causal link between these 2 variables. The implications of the results to policy makers and educators are discussed along with suggestions for future research in order to refine our present understanding of these relationships.


Author(s):  
William B. Bonvillian ◽  
Peter L. Singer

This chapter looks at a new but related problem: start-up scale-up. There is an additional and compounding innovation gap problem affecting start-ups that need to manufacture their products. While the advanced manufacturing institute model detailed in the previous chapter addresses innovation at large, midsize, and small manufacturing firms, to date it has largely focused on existing firms and has not encompassed new entrepreneurial start-ups. These start-up firms face not only an early-stage technology development gap, but also a production scale-up gap. Start-up scale-up is a problem in general, and particularly for manufacturing start-ups. This third category of firms, then, comprises the start-up and entrepreneurial firms that manufacture products based on their own new innovative technologies, typically emerging from university research centers.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document