Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship (벤처창업연구)

The Korean Society of Business Venturing (한국벤처창업학회)
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Effect of Corporate Characteristics of Startups on Overcoming the Death Valley: Focusing on Moderating Effect of Open Innovation and Venture Capital Support

스타트업의 기업 특성이 데스밸리 극복에 미치는 영향: 개방형 혁신과 벤처캐피탈 지원의 조절효과

  • Park, Hyun Suk (Graduate School of Business Administration, Kyungpook National University) ;
  • Na, Hee Kyung (Research Institute of Economics and Business Administration, Kyungpook National University) ;
  • Moon, Gye Wan (Graduate School of Business Administration, Kyungpook National University)
  • 박현숙 (경북대학교 경영학부) ;
  • 나희경 (경북대학교 경제경영연구소) ;
  • 문계완 (경북대학교 경영학부)
  • Received : 2023.01.11
  • Accepted : 2023.02.28
  • Published : 2023.02.28
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Abstract

Overcoming the death valley, a period in which resources are depleted and profitability declines or stagnates in the entrepreneurial process, is an essential procedure for success. In this study, we examined how the strategic orientation(technology, customer, competitor orientations) and absorptive capacity(potential, realized capacities) of startups affect the possibility of startups to overcome the challenges of death valley, and also empirically analyzed whether support of open innovation and venture capital has a moderating influence to the overcoming of death valley. The result of this study shows that customer orientation and realized absorptive capacity have a positive influence on overcoming the death valley. In addition, we found that the support of open innovation and venture capital has a moderating effect only in the technology orientation among the three types of strategic orientations. The result of this research emphasizes (1) the need for startups to take a more customer-oriented approach to overcome the death valley. The customer-oriented behavior and strategies of startups are vital for their longterm survival and success if we consider the fact that most of the companies investigated in this study were technology-based startups and only customer orientation showed significant results in overcoming the death valley. The research outcome also shows that (2) implementing innovation in a more open way and securing venture capital funding can make it easier for startups to overcome the death valley. This study has academic significance in that it empirically analyzed the relationship of key factors influencing the overcoming of death valley in a situation where the majority of existing research remains at the conceptual level of discussion or methodology of case study. Furthermore, this research also provides practical implications for the establishment and implementation of effective strategies to confront the challenges of death valley for startups, government and related organizations.

창업의 과정에서 자원이 고갈되고 수익성이 정체되는 시기인 데스밸리(death valley)를 극복하는 것은 창업의 성공에 필수적인 과정이다. 본 연구에서는 스타트업의 전략적 지향성과 흡수역량이 데스밸리 극복에 어떠한 영향을 미치는지를 살펴보고, 그 사이에서의 개방형 혁신과 벤처캐피탈의 지원이 조절효과를 할 것인지를 실증적으로 분석하였다. 분석결과로는, 우선 스타트업의 전략적 지향성 중 고객 지향성이 데스밸리 극복에 유의한 영향을 미쳤으며, 스타트업의 흡수역량은 잠재적 흡수역량, 실현적 흡수역량 모두 스타트업의 데스밸리 극복에 긍정적인 영향을 미치지 못하였다. 또한 개방형 혁신과 벤처캐피탈 지원의 조절효과는 전략적 지향성 중 기술 지향성에서만 데스밸리 극복에 관한 조절작용을 하는 것을 알 수 있었다. 이러한 결과는 우선, (1) 데스밸리 극복과 생존을 위해서는 스타트업들이 보다 고객 지향적인 접근법을 취할 필요가 있다는 것을 보여준다. 특히 많은 기술 기반의 스타트업들은 전략적 지향성 중 기술적 지향성을 고객 지향성보다 우선시 하는 경향이 있는 데, 이러한 상황에서 본 연구의 설문 대상 기업들의 대부분이 기술 기반 스타트업들이었음에도 데스밸리 극복에 고객 지향성만이 유의미한 결과를 보였다는 것은 스타트업들의 고객지향적인 행동 및 전략의 중요성을 보여주는 결과라고 할 수 있다. 다음으로 (2) 스타트업들의 기술 개발에 있어서 보다 개방적인 혁신 및 협업을 실시하는 것과 벤처캐피탈의 자금 지원이 스타트업들의 데스밸리 극복을 보다 용이하게 한다는 결과를 얻을 수 있었다. 본 연구는 기존의 연구가 데스밸리 극복 방안에 대한 개념적·사례 위주의 논의가 주를 이루는 상황에서 데스밸리 극복에 영향을 미치는 요인들과 그 관계성을 실증적으로 분석하였다는 데에 그 학문적 의의가 있으며, 나아가서는 스타트업들의 전략 수립과 실행, 관련 정부 및 민간 기관들의 지원 방향에도 실무적인 시사점을 제공한다.

Keywords

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