• Journal of Venture Innovation
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.1-17
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• 2022

Entrepreneurs recognize that their passion was an important factor in driving successful entrepreneurship. However, they were often unaware of the impact that third-party passions related to startups have on them. Therefore, in this study, it was verified whether the accelerator incubation program had an effective effect on portfolios. At this time, I tried to do an empirical analysis focusing on how the third-party accelerator entrepreneur passion affects the entrepreneurial performance of portfolios. To this end, a survey was conducted on representatives of portfolios across the country who completed the accelerator incubation program, and empirical testing was conducted based on 330 valid ones. As a result of empirical analysis, it was confirmed that mentoring and networking among accelerator incubation programs had a positive (+) effect on entrepreneurial performance of portfolios. On the other hand, education and seed investment in the accelerator program did not significantly affect the entrepreneurial performance of portfolios. On the other hand, it was tested that accelerator entrepreneur passion significantly moderated both the incubation program elements (education, mentoring, network, seed investment) and the entrepreneurial performance of portfolios. The results of this study are meaningful in that they reveal that the passion of accelerator entrepreneurs is an important lynchpin of incubation programs and the key to success in startups. In addition, this study suggests that it is important for startups to go one step further from seed investment and properly identify the accelerator entrepreneur and his passion, the key man of accelerators.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.31-46
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• 2023

This study classified and confirmed the learning modes about start-ups that are based on the accelerator's program which was focusing on the Korean accelerators in the ICT field targeting global market. Eight accelerator practitioners were interviewed who were in charge of operating programs for accelerators, qualitatively analyzing method of the interview was conducted. The interview results to identify various learning modes that accelerators provide to startups through programs. In order to identify and classify learning modes, the researcher reviewed various prior documents and using categories of experience accumulation, observation, experimentation, trial and error, and improvisation as a priori code for the qualitative analysis. The interview results were analyzed through a subject analysis. As the result of the study, the learning modes offered by the accelerator's programs to startups were confirmed, with two subcategories identified for each of the five categories: experiential, learning from others, experimental, trial and error, and improvisation. Given the limited research on accelerator programs and their main function, the main function of accelerators, this study identified the types of learning modes that offered by the accelerator's programs to startups from the perspective of learning. This study provides important insights into the types of learning modes that offered by the accelerator programs, which can help to improve our understanding of how accelerators support organizational learning for startups. Additionally, this information can be useful for startups considering in participating in the accelerator programs, as it can help them making informed decisions about their involvement.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.45-55
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• 2022

Accelerator is a private investment institution that provides startups with comprehensive solutions to solve various difficulties such as startup facilities, funds, commercialization, securing a market etc. In addition to the role of an investor as a new startup support model, accelerators have contributed much to improvement of business ability of startups through intensive mentoring. Considering that previous studies gave weight to the determinants of investment from the perspective of investors, this study made a comparative analysis on the relative importance of determinants of investment in startups among accelerators, investors and entrepreneurs through the method of AHP. Results show that accelerators and investors regard "managerial characteristics" of startups as of the highest importance, whereas entrepreneurs think that "market characteristics" of startups are the most important. The result stems from an empirical judgment from the perspective of investors that success of startups depends on the ability of entrepreneur, and it is considered that investors evaluated marketability of startups as the most important factor in consideration of investment payback period. The result is similar to the result of previous studies on the determinants of investment determinants of angel investors and venture capitals. This paper is expected to make a contribution to the advancement of investment decision-making model for accelerators to discover startups with high possibility to grow and achieve more in incubation and investment.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.253-270
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• 2023

Research on investment determinants of accelerators, which are attracting attention by greatly improving the survival rate of startups by providing professional incubation and investment to startups at the same time, is gradually expanding. However, previous studies do not have a theoretical basis in developing investment determinants in the early stages, and they use factors of angel investors or venture capital, which are similar investors, and are still in the stage of analyzing importance and priority through empirical research. Therefore, this study verified for the first time in Korea the discrimination and effectiveness of investment determinants using accelerator investment determinants developed based on the business model innovation framework in previous studies. To this end, we first set the criteria for success and failure of startup investment based on scale-up theory and conducted a survey of 22 investment experts from 14 accelerators in Korea, and secured valid data on a total of 97 startups, including 52 successful scale-up startups and 45 failed scale-up startups, were obtained and an independent sample t-test was conducted to verify the mean difference between these two groups by accelerator investment determinants. As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that the investment determinants of accelerators based on business model innovation framework have considerable discrimination in finding successful startups and making investment decisions. In addition, as a result of analyzing manufacturing-related startups and service-related startups considering the characteristics of innovation by industry, manufacturing-related startups differed in business model, strategy, and dynamic capability factors, while service-related startups differed in dynamic capabilities. This study has great academic implications in that it verified the practical effectiveness of accelerator investment determinants derived based on business model innovation framework for the first time in Korea, and it has high practical value in that it can make effective investments by providing theoretical grounds and detailed information for investment decisions.

• Korean small business review
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.173-209
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• 2021

Start-up accelerators are a new type of investor that provide mentoring, education and seed capital to start-ups for a fixed duration and receive a certain stake in them in return. They help start-ups achieve successful commercialization. With increase in performance visibility, the number of private and public sector accelerators rose across domestic and international markets. Private sector accelerators are established and operated by private entities while public sector accelerators are established and operated by the government. Both play complementary roles that are becoming increasingly important to start-ups. Therefore, this study aims to examine the differences in major operational goals and investment determinants between private and public sectors and to understand their implications. The results show that the private sector prioritizes profit generation through the investment, while the public sector aims to contribute to the development of high-growth start-ups, and create region-specific and technology-specific start-up ecosystems. Additionally, both groups consider customer needs the most important determinant. Public groups are more conservative in investments and tend to place importance on objective indicators such as patents, partners, mentors, and co-founders. Conversely, private groups value the capabilities of founders and their ease of collaboration with accelerators. These findings can help start-ups get support from public or private accelerators more easily. It will also help public and private accelerators refine the criteria for selecting start-ups.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.1-16
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• 2022

Although start-up is a key national strategy to increase national competitiveness and create employment, the survival rate of start-ups has not improved significantly. This is an important reason for the inability to provide timely and appropriate support to startups, which are in the early stages of start-up, due to the unique limitations of existing start-up support institutions and investors. The relatively recent accelerator is attracting attention as a subject of solving the above problems through professional incubation and investment. However, there are only a few empirical studies on investment determinants that affect the survival and success of accelerators, and there is a lack of theoretical evidence. Accordingly, in previous studies, 12 investment determinants were derived from a static, strategic, and dynamic perspective as accelerator investment determinants based on a business model innovation framework. This study subdivided the accelerator investment determinants derived through previous studies into 21 and analyzed the importance and priority of each factor using AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) analysis technique for domestic accelerator investment experts. As a result of the analysis, the top factors of importance of accelerator investment determinants were in the order of 'human resources', 'customer and market', 'intellectual resources', and 'entrepreneur's ability to realize opportunities'. It can be seen that the accelerator considers the core competencies of startups to implement solutions as the most important factor when making startup investment decisions. It was also confirmed that accelerators are strategic to create a clear value proposition and differentiated market position based on the core competitiveness of startups, and that the core value delivery method prefers a market-oriented business model and recognizes entrepreneurs's innovation capability is an important factor to realize a business model with limited resources in a rapidly changing market. This study is of academic significance in that it analyzes the importance and priority of accelerator investment determinants through demonstration as a follow-up study on accelerator investment determinants derived based on business model innovation theory that reflects the nature, goals, and major activities of accelerator investment. In addition, it is of practical value as it contributes to revitalizing the domestic startup investment ecosystem by providing accelerators with theoretical grounds for investment decisions and specific information on detailed investment determinants.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.31-44
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• 2020

Accelerators that invest in early startups, as well as nursery and overall management, have recently emerged as "key players" in the startup ecosystem. This can be proved by the case where the number of domestic accelerators registered in the Korean Ministry of SMEs and Startups has recently reached 208. Accelerators provide the necessary education for early-stage companies, including guidance for a certain period of time, and support startups in ways such as demo days to attract subsequent investment after the seed investment. There is not much research in academia about what factors impact on these accelerators when making investment decisions at the time of seed investment. In this study, we checked the meaning and function of the accelerator and tried to analyze what factors affect on accelerators when making a decision to invest in startups. The research method is based on a literature survey of previous studies on investment decision-making factors of venture capital and angel investors, and a lens model and judgment analysis method through empirical research targeting 43 accelerator investment decision-makers. Empirical analysis shows that accelerators have three of the key factors to consider when choosing the first startup to invest and educate; entrepreneurs' entrepreneurial traits, their product and service expertise and a potential return on success. This will provide an opportunity for early startups to gain strategic access to accelerators when they need money or need a structured educational program. Also, the results obtained through this research will be a kind of guideline for startups to attract accelerators' investment. The significance of this study is that discriminatory evidence was presented on the accelerator determinants of investment, and it would be highly suggestive to startups and related public institutions.

• 한국벤처창업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2019.11a
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• pp.15-20
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• 2019

2019년 3월 기획재정부 장관은 관계부처 합동으로 제2벤처 붐 확산전략을 발표하였다. 신산업 고기술 스타트업 발굴을 통해 기술인재 고기술창업 특히 대학 및 연구소등의 우수 인재가 기술혁신형 창업을 하고, 이에 투자 멘토링 기술 지원하는 사업을 강화하는 한편 지원규모를 확대한다는 계획이다. 2019년 9월 국내 벤처기업 수는 3만6759개이고, 액셀러레이터 투자도 벤처투자로 인정한 '벤처기업육성에 관한 특별조치법' 개정안을 마련하고 있으며, 엑설러레이터 기준을 새로 마련하고 있다. 벤처 투자액은 올해 4조원을 돌파할 거라 예상하고 있는 가운데, 특히 창업의 마중물 역을 하는 액셀러레이터 시장이 크게 성장하고 있다. 대학부터 지자체, 기업, 기존 투자사들까지 뛰어들면서 관련제도가 도입된 지 3년이 채 되지 않아 200곳이 설립됐다. 전 세계적인 스타트업 붐에 더해 진입문턱이 대폭 낮아지자 초기 기업에서 기회를 엿보는 곳들이 늘어난 것으로 보인다. 2017년 54곳에 불과했던 액셀러레이터는 2년이 지나지 않아 4배 가까이 증가했다. 이처럼 시장이 급성장하는 이유는 대기업 중심의 경제 성장세가 둔화되고 우버와 같은 회사들이 새로운 산업을 구축하며 전 세계적으로 스타트업에 대한 관심이 고조되었고, 정부 역시 제2벤처 붐을 일으키겠다며 다방면의 벤처 육성책을 내놓고 있기 때문이다. 이러한 엑셀러레이터에 대한 관심은 학술적이 연구로도 나타나고 있는 바, 엑셀러레이터로부터 투자를 유치한 스타트업의 성과와 관련하여 다양한 원인을 찾고자하는 노력이 시도되고 있다. 스타트업 관계자가 인식하는 엑셀러레이터의 평가지표에 대한 수용성 정도와 그들의 성과 간의 관계에서 엑셀러레이터 조직에 대한 신뢰의 역할을 연구할 필요성이 제기된다고 할 것이다. 제기된 연구 필요성의 해결을 위하여 본 연구에서는 최근 3년 이내 엑셀러레이터로부터 투자 유치를 받은 스타트업 관계자를 대상으로 평가수용성과 엑셀러레이터의 조직신뢰 그리고 성과에 대한 설문조사를 실시하였다. 본 연구의 분석결과를 바탕으로 스타트업 성과를 극대화할 수 있는 엑셀러레이터의 평가지표 구성과 조직측면에서 전략적 방안 모색의 기초자료로 제공하고자 한다.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.85-99
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• 2019

Startups need proper external supports to survive and build strong foundations for growth in their early stage. Accelerators help such startups by providing tangible and intangible resources. Accordingly, accelerators are creating a social environment that can effectively support the startups in the early stage, distinct from other institutions that fund or help the startups. However, the actual impact of accelerators on startups has not been yet fully scrutinized thoroughly, especially with the lack of theoretical lenses to comprehend accelerators. This paper aims to build a theoretical foundation to understand the role of accelerator, focusing on the network-based perspective. We briefly overview the concept of accelerator and the current status of the accelerator industry. Subsequently, focusing on the network that accelerators and startups create, this paper examines how the characteristics of the network relationships affect the growth and survival of the early-stage startups. Thus, by offering systematic analysis of the underlying mechanisms of the effects of the accelerators under network-based approach, this paper suggests a direction for the future empirical research on the topic of startup accelerator.

• 한국벤처창업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2021.04a
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• pp.173-179
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• 2021

기술을 기반으로 스타트업을 시작한 창업자들은 벤처캐피탈(VC) 등 기술기반 벤처기업에 투자를 하는 사람들이 오로지 기술만을 평가하여 투자를 진행할 것이라고 오해하기 쉽다. 그 생각에서 벗어나지 못하면 기술 벤처기업에 전문적으로 투자하는 투자자에게 투자를 받기는 쉽지 않을 것이다. 본고에서는 기술 벤처기업에 전문적으로 투자하는 투자자들이 어떤 관점에서 투자를 진행하는지에 대해서 알아봄으로써 기술 기반으로 스타트업을 시작한 창업자가 투자유치를 어떻게 진행해야 할 지에 대한 지침을 주고자 한다.