• 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.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.27-36
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• 2016

Venture companies, which can commercialize various kinds of new ideas and creating added value, are amid of great attention. Since most of venture companies in initial development stages cannot finance its capital sufficiently all by their own, investments from outside investors are key factor to their survival. However, they have lots of difficulties in financing from outside investors because of their typical uncertain but favorable investment characteristics. Moreover, even though they had successfully financed from outsiders, problems related to their stakeholders, such as interrupting in management and types of investments, cause contrary results to firms. Therefore there are various kinds of systems for startups like angels, venture capitals and governmental supports. Even so, investments and supports for venture companies are still not sufficient. 'Accelerator', which is a brand-new investment type started from Silicon Valley in United States during the mid 2000, is growing attention these-days. It mainly supports startups financially in the initial development stages, however, it also supports the firms by providing mentoring, education and networking services. On the other hand, difference between existing investment types and performance of the investment is still in controversy. Therefore this study compared investment behavior between accelerator and venture capital. As a result, we found that the difference in investment behavior of accelerators and venture capital.

• Proceedings of the Korea Technology Innovation Society Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.161-174
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• 2017

최근 들어 기술벤처기업에 대한 투자가 증가하고, 이를 위한 기술신용평가의 역할이 증대하였다. 그러나 금융권에서 바라보는 기술신용평가의 경우, 해당 기업의 신용등급이나 기술(력) 등급평가에 초점을 두어, 대상기술의 사업화 및 수익성 관점을 체계적으로 반영하지 못하는 한계를 지닌다. 따라서, 벤처캐피털(VC)이나 엔젤투자자를 비롯한 금융권에서 대상기술의 수익성 정보를 참조하거나 기술벤처기업 설립시 기술지분을 참고하는 등, 기존 기술이전거래 협상참조용이나 담보 보증용에 널리 이용되던 기술가치평가의 활용범위가 급격히 확대되고 있다. 제조 서비스 분야의 일반 기술 뿐만이 아니라, 바이오 제약 의료 분야 기술에서도 미래 투입되어야 하는 사업화 소요기간 및 비용을 고려하여 기술가치를 산정해야 할 때가 있다. 기존의 현금흐름할인법(DCF법)이 연속된 투자에 대한 고려를 못하거나 기술적용 제품의 상용화 투입비용에 대한 확률적인 속성을 반영하지 못하는 등 한계점을 지니고 있다. 그러나 기술과 투자의 가치는 기회가치로 보고 자원배분을 위한 의사결정 정보를 감안해야 하므로, 실물옵션의 개념을 적용하는 것이 바람직하다고 여겨진다. 흔히 기업가치를 평가할 때 주가의 변동성(volatility) 개념을 도입하여 전일종가 대비 익일시가의 분산값을 활용하기도 한다. 이러한 개념을 기술가치평가에 적용하기 위해서는 '주가의 연속성(상대적 미세한 변화)' 및 '양(+)의 조건'을 고려해야 하는데, 실제 기술가치평가 상의 현금흐름은 사업초기년도 음(-)의 값이 나타나거나 2~3년 내외의 짧은 수익예상기간 하에서는 주가와 같은 변동성을 도출하는데 무리가 있다. 따라서 많은 문헌에서 연구된 바와 같이, 실물옵션 기반의 기술가치 산정을 위한 블랙-숄즈 모형에서 변동성과 기초자산가치, 그리고 사업화비용 간의 관계를 살펴볼 필요가 있다. 아울러 옵션가격결정모형(Option Pricing Model)에서 불확실성을 반영한 기초자산의 현재가치와 사업화비용의 현재가치분이 특정 임계조건 하에서 '옵션행사 포기(NAT; no action taken)' 영역으로 구분되는 지를 수학적으로 도출하고 관찰변수(입력값)에 따른 옵션가치 산출표를 개발하여 제시한다.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.25-32
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to investigate how to make a proper investment in ICO in the market. Previously, companies used to borrow money from banks or to obtain investments from venture capital (VC) and angel investors, but now ICOs are used as a new type of funding and financing model. The ICO sells the tokens or coins created on the blockchain openly online to raise the necessary funds, and provides the market value by paying the tokens or coins as much as the investment amount. According to this study, the limitations of the ICO market are (1) difficulties in evaluating the company, (2) uncertainties in investments, (3) lack of legal safeguards, and (4) measures to secure corporate stability after recruitment. At present, there is no way to cope with this systematically since the ICO is not protected in the legal framework. Nevertheless, we investigated the ways to make proper investment in the existing ICO market. In investing in ICO, investors should (1) consider investment methods and profitability, and (2) verify and judge investment fraud through various channels (ex. Homepage, composition team profile, etc.) and make investments based on this. This study will contribute to the formation of a healthy ICO market by understanding the newly emerged ICO market and studying the considerations when investing in it, thereby contributing to the right investor training and reducing the mass production of consumer damages caused by fraud. The limitation of this study is that the domestic ICO has not yet been examined in the legal framework, so further research is needed when policy changes occur in the future.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.35-46
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to identify the characteristics of entrepreneurs and organizations related to the initial investment stage of IT-based entrepreneurs. Specifically, we examine the effects of founder-related characteristics such as background and experience of founders on the initial investment stage and explore how the organizational characteristics such as finance, human, and technology resources affect initial investment of start-up enterprise. To accomplish this study purpose, a questionnaire survey was conducted on entrepreneurs who were actually invested by government, angel, and VC. A total of 295 data were used for hypothesis testing, and the hypothesis was tested by hierarchical regression analysis. As a result of the study, it was found that founders who had experience of investment before or experienced in technology development had a significant influence on initial investment stage. In addition, it was confirmed that factors such as financial, human, and technology resources had significant positive effects on the initial investment stage. The results of this study make it possible to identify the competencies and characteristics required to attract investment to potential founders preparing for start-up in the future. It also provides information on how to formulate an effective human resource composition plan. Also, these results can be used as a basis for investment decision-making by providing investors with guidelines on investment selection criteria.

• 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.

• Information Systems Review
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.33-57
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• 2020

Although cryptocurrency which can promote innovation in the blockchain ecosystem is published for many useful purposes, in Korea, cryptocurrency is recognized only as a means of investment for the profit. The fact emphasizes only the speculative nature of the cryptocurrency, so investor negates the fundamental purpose of cryptocurrency and hinders innovation in the blockchain ecosystem. The purpose of this study is to investigate the cause of cryptocurrency perception and speculative behavior of domestic cryptocurrency investors from an academic perspective. We use a model that reflects the traditional considerations and cryptocurrency's characteristics in investment. Using the model, we can explain the cause of misperception of cryptocurrency through the theory of bounded rationality. In building the research model, we use variables of venture and angel investor's consideration used in investment decisions and collect the keywords from indexes of whitepaper to reflect the properties of cryptocurrency. This study mentions that, due to the imitations presented by Simon, individuals are forced to perceive cryptocurrency as a means of speculation and to make irrational decisions that impair ecosystem health. We analyze whether there is a significant difference in rationality in decision made by the sample under limited knowledge and imperfect information constraints. As a result, imperfect information constraints led investors to consider only irrational criteria in decision making. From this result, this study suggests that information asymmetry needs to be relaxed so that investment can be pursued together with rational investment and development of blockchain ecosystem. In addition, the industry can capture strategic insights for successful financing through ICO by enabling better understanding of investor decision-making.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.101-116
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• 2019

Technology-based start-up is important in that it encourages innovation, facilitates the development of new products and services, and contributes to job creation. Technology-based start-up activates entrepreneurship when appropriate support is provided within the ecosystem. Thus, understanding the technology-based start-up ecosystem is crucial. The purpose of this study is as follows. First, in Herrmann et al.'s(2015) study, we compare and analyze the ecosystem of each country by selecting representative regions such as Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv, London and Singapore which have the highest ranking in the start-up ecosystem. Second, we try to deeply understand the start-up ecosystem based on in-depth interviews with various stakeholders such as VC investors, start-ups, support organizations, and professors related to the Korean start-up ecosystem. Finally, based on the results of the study, we suggest development and activation of Korean technology-based start-up ecosystem. As a result, the Seoul start-up ecosystem showed a positive evaluation of government support compared to other advanced countries. In addition, it was confirmed that the ratio of tele-work and start-up company working experience of employees was higher than other countries. On the other hand, in Seoul, It was confirmed that overseas market performance, human resource diversity, attracting investment, hiring technological engineers, and the ratio of female entrepreneurs were lower than those of overseas advanced countries. In addition, according to the results of the interview analysis, Seoul was able to find that start-up ecosystems such as individual angel investors, accelerators, support institution, and media are developing thanks to the government's market-oriented policy support. However, in order for this development to continue, it is necessary to improve the continuous investment system, expansion of diversity, investment return system, and accessibility to the global market. A discussion on this issue is presented.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.85-95
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• 2016

Generally a venture capital aims at investment and support Venture businesses that signifies a start-up which has high technologies but frailty of the economy so that raise fund from financial agencies at high risk rate, it has high risk but when the venture businesses launch into general orbit, the venture capital guarantee high-rate profits. Venture capital do not just provide risk capital but also takes a role as a mentor for continuous growth with total consulting service at business and technical management. Also it offers in-depth support to reform the supported enterprise in order to enhance the competitive. Venture capital receives attention for years as a principal agent to be promoted strategically at national level. Bio venture, a major concern of venture capital and one of core industries in Korea, is different from other industries because it needs long-term and large scale of investment. these factors bring about difficulties in an investment and growth. Therefore, it is very important to identify growth and profitability of start-ups and small and venture businesses with long-term appreciation above all other industries. This research analyze management results of bio venture businesses empirically by investment from venture capital. according to the results, bio venture businesses need huge capital and a long gap of time, henceforth, formation of model for growth is necessary with angel investing as well as venture capital. Since, there are not many listed bio venture businesses, significant statistical result would be limited. This research studied at only economic focus but further study need to examine a question from various angles.

• 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.