• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.131-144
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• 2021

The organizational ambidexterity is an organizational strategy designed to pursue exploration activities to seize new opportunities and exploitation activities to efficiently use resources. Most of these ambidextrous structures have been studied for large corporations with slack resources, and there are still not many studies on the necessity of an ambidextrous structure for startups with relatively low-level resources. However, recently, the startup ecosystem is being advanced globally, and the amount of VC investment is rapidly increasing. This is a time when a lot of venture fund is invested in startups and a startup-friendly environment for rapid growth is created. This is the time to discuss the necessity and applicability of an ambidextrous organizational structure for startups. Therefore, this study conducted a hypothesis test whether the importance and necessity of balance that startups solving market problems with new ideas and utilizing accumulated resources have. To conduct this study, we analyzed 140 startups data gathered from the survey and the moderation effect was also analyzed. As a result of the study, it was verified that the balance of startup exploration and exploitation had a significant effect on startup performance, and the moderating effect of environmental dynamics was found to have a significant effect on the relationship with non-financial performance. Therefore, for startups with insufficient resources, it was concluded that the surplus resources generated in the process of a firm's growth should be effectively utilized and the balance between exploration and exploitation should be balanced from the initial stage of searching for a new business. In other words, it was confirmed that it is important for continuous growth and survival to seek the structure of an ambidextrous organization in order to internalize a mechanism that enables startups to pursue both effectiveness and efficiency in the long term. This study suggests a strategic direction for the growth of startups from the perspective of organizational structure. We expect that this meaningful results on the relationship between the ambidextrous capabilities of startups and performance contribute to the growth of startups in the rapidly growing startup venture environment.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.147-157
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• 2023

This paper investigates the financial factors affecting angel investors' investment decisions for 818 firms from 2009 to 2018 in the Korean venture investment market. We construct a quasi-experimental design using propensity scoring matching and compare the investment determinants between investment firms and matching firms. The main empirical findings are as follows. First, we find that angel investors are more likely to choose firms based on a firm's growth such as profit and assets rather than profitability or financial stability. In addition, we identify that they prefer the firm not only higher intangible assets but also higher R&D expenditures. Second, we find that angel investors consider both growth and activity ratios in the firms for over three years and have entered the mid-stage of startups. Overall, we confirm that the investment decision of angel investors mainly focuses on the venture startups' growth trend or future growth potential rather than the realized profitability or financial stability. We also infer that the possibility of performance creation is an important investment factor along with growth for the mid-stage startup.

• 한국벤처창업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2022.04a
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• pp.205-210
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• 2022

오늘날 많은 선진국들이 창업국가를 표방하고 있다. 실제로 많은 연구들은 창업 생태계의 역동성이 국가 경쟁력 향상으로 이어지고 있음을 뒷받침하고 있다. 이에 각국 정부들은 스타트업을 새로운 미래 성장 동력으로 인식하고, 능력 있는 창업가와 스타트업을 자국으로 유치하기 위해 힘쓰고 있다. 본 연구는 창업자들의 글로벌 창업이주(Startup migration)현상과 지역적 창업 생태계의 등장에 주목하여, 그들의 이주요인을 알아보고자 한다. 창업 생태계 관련 선행연구에 따르면 창업자들은 개인적 동기 혹은 가용 자원이 풍부한 환경을 찾아서 국경을 넘는다. 창업이주는 국내 스타트업의 해외 진출을 의미하는 아웃바운드(Outbound)와 해외 스타트업의 국내 창업 허브에 유치하는 인바운드(Inbound)가 있는데, 본 연구는 비교적 선행연구가 적은 인바운드 창업이주(Inbound startup migration)를 중심으로 진행하고자 한다. 본 연구는 선행연구, 선행연구 기반의 질문지 작성, 설문 조사의 단계로 구성되어 있다. 우선 글로벌 창업 생태계를 비교 분석 및 평가한 선행연구를 살펴보고, 글로벌 창업 이주에 영향을 미치는 요인들을 찾아낼 것이다. 이후 전문가 인터뷰를 통해 앞에서 발견한 요인들을 인바운드 창업이주 관점에서 재정리하고 각 요인별로 질문을 추가하여, 설문지를 구성할 것이다. 설문지 작성의 목적은 인바운드 창업이주에 영향을 미치는 요인들 간의 중요도를 알아보기 위함이다. 작성된 설문은 글로벌 창업이주 형태로 국내에 정착한 100여명의 해외국적 창업자들에게 진행될 것이다. 본 연구는 인바운드 창업이주의 핵심 요인들을 찾아내어 이론화하고 이를 실증할 설문도구를 만들어서, 이를 우리나라 인바운드 스타트업들을 대상으로 검증하여 각각의 상대적 중요도를 찾아내었다는 데 그 의의가 있다. 본 연구에서 찾아낸 영향, 요인, 프레임워크는 세계 각국의 창업생태계를 비교하는 후속 연구에 활용될 수 있을 것이고 실증된 결과는 정책 입안에 활용될 수 있을 것이다.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.109-121
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• 2023

This paper examines whether angel investors affect startup's financial performance (profitability and growth ratios) in the Korean startup market over 10 years period from 2009 to 2018. In particular, we consider not only the behavior of angel investor such as the investment amount or the type of investments (stocks, bonds) but also the type of angle investor (individual or corporation). Our empirical results are as follows. First, we find that the startup's profitability ratios are higher after the investment of angel investors. However, the growth ratios show different results in assets and sales. Second, we identify that the investment amount of angel investors negatively affects on the startup's growth ratios. Lastly, we find that equity investment such as common stock or preferred stock and the individual angel investors such as personal investment association or professional angels show higher financial performance than bond investment or corporate angel investors. Overall, our findings imply that angel investors positively affect startup's financial performance. In particular, we infer that the superior financial performance is largely attributed to monitor startups by participating as shareholders or to select more carefully by the individual angel investors who may be exposed to more investment risk. In conclusion, our findings support that angel investors play a positive role in the Korean venture investment market.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.97-110
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• 2020

This paper is on the policy proposal for venture ecosystem. First, one of the three secrets of the US venture ecosystem is the law of 50:50. Angel capital investment is as important as venture capital investment. Although professional angel investors and accelerators account for as much as VC in the venture ecosystem, they are ignored from policy considerations. We argue that the revision of related law is urgent. Second, large US firms invest more in M&As than in internal R&D. Therefore, accelerators and professional angel investors could make effective investment recovery after investing in a startup company. In other words, angel capital does not come in without secondary market development. Angel capital and secondary markets are the two pillars of the venture ecosystem. The government alone is difficult to develop a secondary market. This is why the private sector should come in and introduce corporate venture capital (CVC). Third, we believe the policy direction for national economic growth should be extended from the startup to scale-up. This is because the startup's sales and job creation will start in five years. While the previous study focused on funding (venture financing), this paper aims to balance all three stages of a venture: startup, growth, and recovery, which are the life cycle of a venture company or venture investment. In particular, we propose specific policies in each chapter to improve practical application.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.25-37
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to survey startup founders within 7 years of founding the importance and satisfaction of the components of the scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem at the national level in Korea and analyze the direction of scale-up policy by component using IPA (importance-performance analysis). Since the perception of founders, who are the subjects of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, affects the quantity and quality of start-ups, research is needed to analyze and diagnose the perception of scale-up components. For the development of the national economy and entrepreneurial ecosystem, companies that emerge from startups to scale-up and unicorns must be produced, and for this, elements for the scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem are needed. The results of this study are as follows. First, the importance ranking of the components of the scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem recognized by founders was in the order of "Financial support by growth stage," "Support for customized scale-up for enterprises," "Improvement of regulations," "Funds dedicated to scale-up," "large-scale investment," and "nurturing technical talents." Second, the factors that should be intensively improved in the importance-satisfaction matrix in the future were 'Pan-Government Integration Promotion Plan', 'Scale-Up Specialized Organization Operation', 'Company Customized Scale-Up Support', 'Regulatory Improvement', and 'Building a Korean Scale-Up Model'. As a result, various and large financial capital for the scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem, diversification of scale-up programs by business sector, linkage of start-ups and scale-up support, deregulation of new technologies and new industries, strengthening corporate-tailored scale-up growth capabilities, and providing overseas networking opportunities can be derived. In addition, it is expected to contribute to policy practice and academic work with research that derives the components of the domestic scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem and diagnoses its perception.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.13-35
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• 2020

Startup accelerators are a new type of investors providing a certain amount of shares for imparting education, mentoring, networking, and providing space and seed money that can directly resolve the difficulties faced by nascent entrepreneurs (Clarysse, 2016). Startup accelerators have expanded worldwide as their influence over the startup ecosystem has increasingly been established (Pauwels et al., 2016; Cohen & Hochberg, 2014). This study was conducted to derive investment determinants of startup accelerators that are emerging as major investment players around the world. To this end, the accelerator-type determinants of investment were derived. As previous research on this topic is nonexistent, this process involved qualitative meta-synthesis, literature reviews, observation, and in-depth interviews. First, more than 30 research papers were examined for the determinants of investment for firms at an early stage of their foundation, and the categories and determinants of investment in the relevant studies were comparatively analyzed using qualitative meta-synthesis. Further, related data were investigated to identify the characteristics of accelerators, and the startup evaluation process of US accelerators was studied. The more than 100 questions raised during this process were coded to examine the determinants of investment that accelerators considered important. In-depth interviews were conducted with four US accelerators to identify the characteristics of accelerators and key determinants of investment. Ultimately, 5 categories of accelerator-type determinants of investment and 26 subordinate determinants of investment were derived. The results were verified and supplemented by consulting with seven accelerators in Korea. The results were confirmed after pilot tests and verification by seven domestic accelerators. After confirming the accelerator-type determinants, the reliability of them was verified by examining the importance and priority of each category through the quantitative survey of Korean accelerators. The research that elicited the accelerator-type investment determinants is the first research and is expected to be a major reference to the progress of subsequent studies. This research that systematically derived the investment determinants of the accelerator is expected to make major contributions to the progress of follow-up studies, the process of selecting startups, and the investment decision-making process of the accelerators.

• 한국벤처창업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2020.06a
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• pp.191-195
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• 2020

최근 벤처 캐피탈의 투자는 지속적으로 증가하는 가운데, 특히 핀테크 산업의 투자가 괄목할 정도로 증가하고 있다. 핀테크는 금융과 기술의 만남이라는 관점에서 주목을 받았다. 핀테크 업체는 기존 전통 금융기관이 가지고 있는 Pain Point를 공략하여 혁신을 주도 해 나가고 있다. 결제, 송금 등에서의 비효율을 개선하고 있으며, 자산 관리 분야에서도 편리한 투자 솔루션을 낮은 수수료 체계하에서 제공하여 시장 점유율을 확대가 가속화 되고 있는 실적이다. 이러한 핀테크 스타트업의 성장 추세에서 어떠한 요인이 기업 가치에 가장 영향을 주었는지에 대한 연구는 개념적인 수준에 머물러 있다. 이는 한국의 경우에는 여러 가지 규제로 인해 글로벌 업체 대비 발전에 저해가 되는 제도적인 문제가 있어 성장성을 보이는 업체가 제한되어 있고, 글로벌의 경우도 의미있는 핀테크의 성장은 최근 2~3년내에 빠르게 변화한 상황으로 관련 연구가 시작 단계에 머물러 있다. 본 연구에서는 2000년~2020년 1분기까지의 글로벌 핀테크 업체를 대상으로 어떠한 요인이 기업 가치 증대에 가장 의미있는 영향을 주고 있는지 파악을 하는 것을 목적으로 한다. 금융 CVC 투자 여부, CEO의 학력, 사업 지역, 핀테크내 세부 산업 분류 등의 요인에 대하여 분석을 진행하였다. 이를 토대로 향후 핀테크 산업 성장을 견인 할 수 있는 측면에서 시사점을 제공하고자 한다.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.55-69
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• 2021

For the national economic development, the participation of women in the social and economic activities is crucial. The popularization of start-ups, digital transformation, and WEconomy trends have lowered the barriers to opportunities for women to start a business and provide an environment in which women can grow faster. This paper examines the significance and process of success of women entrepreneurs and the characteristics of innovation strategies and achievements by linking the recently changing business environment of a company, factors influencing the success of women entrepreneurship, and innovation activities. To this end, four companies' cases were analyzed in the fields of distribution/service and consumer products/services, which are areas of large investment among female startups. The result shows that women entrepreneurs recognize the meaning of success as creating and continuing to create a 'corporate value through establishing a trust relationship with customers' within the 'balance between personal life and work.' In terms of the business ecosystem, women entrepreneurs strive for 'business activities based on the win-win growth of consumers, producers and sellers' for success, and rather 'focus on the process with a problem-solving approach' rather than achieving performance-oriented goals. Also through excellent power of observation, flexibility, and execution power, women entrepreneurs conduct business by adapting to changing trends. In terms of innovation activities, the innovation strategy of women-led companies puts priority on 'creating the value customers want' and focuses on innovation in the 'customer-centric business model' rather than technological innovation. As such, women-led companies show several differentiated characteristics, which enable them to create corporate value and achieve sustainable growth. The barriers to challenges and opportunities for women to start a business have been lowered, and an ecosystem has been created for female startups to grow. But why are there still so few women entrepreneurs, and the answer to where we need to close these gaps is ultimately a close analysis and investigation of the field. We must present milestones for growth steps through the accumulation of case studies of women startups that have exited. In addition, women can stand as economic agents only when the policy targets are subdivided and specific approaches to child-rearing and childcare for women entrepreneurs must be taken. This paper expects to serve as basic data for follow-up studies and become the basis of research for women entrepreneurs to grow as economic agents.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.1-15
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• 2016

Startups in Korea are experiencing for themselves the laws of survival through competition in the local and international market, and are performing active business movements based on these. Korea's economic growth rate is 2.6% due to the slump in the domestic demand and reduced exports brought by the MERSC incident in 2015. The Korea Development Institute has estimated the economic growth rate in 2016 to be around 3.0%. South Korea's economy is facing the crisis of low-growth solidification due to the decrease in economic growth, and it is forecasted that growth without employment and polarization will worsen. Startups in the high-tech industrial generation of a particular field wherein the market environment is rapidly changing must maintain a competitive advantage with the capabilities and functions exclusive to them. It is very important that they maintain a competitive edge by utilizing the capabilities exclusive to startup companies. Likewise, the accumulation of resources is also crucial in determining the success of a startup business. In a poor local startup ecosystem, majority of the startup companies are performing their business activities while striving for survival, rather than success. About 80% are struggling to survive and are failing to overcome the "Death Valley" faced 3-5 years after establishing the company. Since majority of the startups fail to achieve results during the initial stages of foundation, the importance of research on business activities and achievement during the early stages of establishment is being raised. In accordance to this, this research has performed an actual analysis on how the activities of startups during their preparation phase and early stages affect their achievements. A survey was done on the CEOs or executives (people in a position to make decisions) of local small and medium-sized enterprises that are considered start-ups, and 203 valid data were collected and analyzed. Results showed that the discoveries and utilized activities necessary for the businesses of startups have a significant impact on their achievement through the entrepreneur resources and external partners' cooperation; additionally, the related implications were discussed.