• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.17-29
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• 2020

In recent years, universities, with their intellectual properties and human resources, become main drivers for technology transfer. Universities in Korea have various organizations to support the technology transfer and commercialization. Among them, a technology holding company plays the critical role to successfully implement the task. Nonetheless, the performance of the technology holding company is well below the expectation of industry, government and universities themselves. The lack of expertises and experience together with the ill-suited government policies could be attributable to the observed under performance. More recently, however, the technology holding company acts as an accelerator or venture capital to search and fund promising start-ups. The university venture capital thus transforms a traditional university into an entrepreneurial university. Focusing on the role of the technology holding company as an accelerator or venture capital, the paper analyzes the characteristics of the university venture capital and the invested start-ups. The performance of the university venture capital is measured and the determinants of the performance are empirically tested. The results show that the co-investment of outside investors and the support of government program, known as Tech Incubator Program for Startup Korea, yields the highest performance. The result indicates that the coordination of the university venture capital, industry and government is the key to the success of early start-ups. The paper is the first to analyze the performance of the university venture capitals in Korea and thus contributes to the literature.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.225-235
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• 2020

The Korean government is attempting to promote technology-based start-ups and venture firms that can lead to new national growth engines being developed. Although government support policies focus on improving survival rates, strategic tools for sustainability management based on a continuing company's assumption are also relevant. Previous studies indicate corporate social responsibility (CSR) as an important strategic tool for the management of corporate sustainability. This research is an exploratory study that seeks to empirically analyze the applicability of such CSR to venture firms. Existing previous studies have been carried out by large companies and surveys, and there are limitations that do not reflect the characteristics of companies. To complement the shortcomings of previous studies and propose practical consequences, this study conducted an empirical analysis using raw data from government approval statistics to identify the growth stages of venture firms. Using the 2018 Survey of Korea Venture Firms, we identified the growth stages of domestic venture firms and used the data envelopment analysis (DEA) to investigate the effect of CSR activities on managerial efficiency. The analysis found that CSR during start-up and early growth cycles did not affect managerial performance. The organization that conducted enthusiastic CSR activities performed better than those that did not perform CSR activities since the rapid growth era. Ultimately, the scale efficiency of venture business was the highest from the rapid growth era when the CSR was not done. This study is a pioneering study that found that after the period of high growth, venture firms' CSR activities can affect managerial performance. Therefore, it is important to advise applicable policies and business decision-makers that CSR practices can be a tactical resource for improving performance of management.

• 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.

• Information Systems Review
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.163-181
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• 2005

In this paper, we report case analysis on entob.com which is one of the leading domestic players in MRO e-marketplace. Critical success factors of achieving early liquidity and right ownerships are addressed for successful e-marketplace launching. Change management issues, required to encourage suppliers participation and to overcome adoption barriers from buyer firms, are suggested and illustrated for the successful implementation of the MRO e-marketplace. The business model architectures enabling to create e-intermediary value to both the suppliers and buyers are detailed. Finally, benefits of buyer firms captured through e-procurement business process streamlining and material cost savings are reported as the successful application stories. The findings suggest practical managerial insights for MRO e-marketplace implementation and further research.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.12 no.10
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• pp.201-209
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to analyze subjective and objective factors for the successful operation of One-Person Creative Firms and find significant variables in accordance with the sales and net profit that are representing business performances. Additionally, we were trying to find that what One-Person Creative Firms have had a government assistance need the supports in order to achieving a good performance in sales and net profit. In the result of this study, the sales volume is related that two(2) subjective(Judgment, Planning) and four(4) objective factors(Patent Application, Patent Registration, Business Duration, Initial Capital). The net profit is related that Challenging Spirits in subjective factors and Run-up to the Business, Business Duration, Initial Capital in objective factors. Ultimately, these factors are important variables for the sales and net profit in relationship both the positive(+) and negative(-). This is an exploratory nature of the study rather than the rigorous hypothesis testing. Therefore, a rigorous hypothesis test study model to derive a more detailed study is needed based on the results of this study in the future.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.145-158
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of the ownership structure of unlisted firms on KOSDAQ listing. There are few studies analyzing the characteristics of listing success based on ownership structure. For startup executives, there is not enough data to refer to the ownership structure that can increase the possibility of listing. This paper examines the effects of ownership structure on IPO success through comparison between listed successful and failed companies among the companies in application for KOSDAQ listing eligibility review. The major findings are as follows; (1) Venture capital investment and shareholding have a statistically positive effect on the success of KOSDAQ listing. This results indicate that the venture capital's investment alleviate the problem of information asymmetry, and it is a valid signal for market participants. The result means the role of venture capital seems to be important when companies are listed on the KOSDAQ. (2) The largest shareholder's stake has an inverted-U shape relationship with listing success. In other words, the ownership concentration mitigates moral hazard problem, which leads to listing success. However, if the ownership concentration exceeds a certain level, the chances of success in listing will decrease due to concerns over the pursuit of private interests. The result suggests that the largest shareholder's stake reduce agency problem. This study academically contributes to the existing literature by demonstrating the ownership structure affects IPOs, and explaining the results based on agent theory and signal theory. Our results provide practical implications for companies preparing for an IPO on the KOSDAQ.

• 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.13 no.2
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• pp.1-13
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• 2018

This study examines the relationship between the organizational general characteristics (industry, size, location, development stage, and company age) and success factors of Korean venture firms using secondary data. Among the industries with the highest sales figures in 2016 are food / fiber / (non) metals, and the smallest category was software development. The sectors with the highest net profit were computer / semiconductor / electronic components, and the smallest category was telecommunication equipment / broadcasting equipment. The industries with the largest sales growth rate are IT / broadcasting services and software development. The industries with the highest net profit margin of sales are energy / medical / precision, and the smallest is telecommunication equipment / broadcasting equipment. In terms of the number of employees, venture firms with more than 100 employees have the largest sales and net profit, with employees between 1 and 9 have the smallest. However, these results are predictable. In general, the number of employees is highly correlated with sales and net profit. Rather, the sales growth rate and the net profit margin of sales may be meaningful. In particular, with employees between 50 ~ 99, the growth rate of sales and the net profit margin of sales were high. In terms of location, Seoul / Incheon / Gyeonggi were the regions with the highest sales and Daejeon / Sejong / Chungcheong / Gangwon were the least regions. Gwangju / Jeolla / Jeju and Seoul / Incheon / Gyeonggi were almost similar in the areas with the largest net profit. However, Daejeon / Sejong / Chungcheong / Gangwon had the lowest net profit. Unusually, the areas with the highest sales growth rate and the highest net profit margin of sales were Gwangju / Jeolla / Jeju, and the smallest areas were Busan / Jeonnam / Ulsan In the relationship between the stage of development and the performance of the company, the sales of maturity and decline stages were the highest and establishing stage was the lowest. Net profit was also the highest in mature stage and the smallest in establishing stage. The sales growth rate shows a typical pattern in the order of establishing stage, early growth stage, high growth stage, maturity stage, and decline stage. In terms of business performance, sales and net profit are the highest with 21 years or more of company age, and the smallest is less than 3 years. In addition, the sales growth rate was the highest in three years or less, and the net profit margin of sales was the highest in 4 to 10 years. This study can present lots of useful implications by suggesting integrated research model and examining the success factors of Korean venture firms and presenting the application methods of secondary data in analyzing the current status of venture industry in Korea.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.23-58
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• 2014

This study investigates the effects of product strategies and CEO characteristics on the growth of venture firms. These factors are related with strategic behaviors and managerial capabilities of small and dynamic firms. According to empirical results of FGLS regression with the data of the Korean venture firms, both product strategies and CEO characteristics have significant effects on firm growth and additionally explanatory powers. In general, the growth rates of venture firms tend to increase with the level of product's diversity and marketing-enhancing strategy, but decrease with the degree of product's innovation-enhancing strategy. The growth rates are higher when CEO is non-founder and has sufficient experience related to current business, and CEO's career development is focused on general management area. The effects of product strategies and CEO characteristics are moderated by the firm-internal factor such as organizational growth stage. The positive effects of some product strategies (e.g. marketing-enhancing strategy) and CEO characteristics(e.g. career focused on general management) become stronger for firms operating in the stage of start-up or initial growth, while their effects become negative or insignificant for firms operating in the mature or declining stage in which the negative effect of innovation-enhancing strategy does not exist.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.37-50
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• 2023

Venture capital invests the necessary capital and supports management and technology in promising small and medium-sized venture companies in the early stages of start-up with promising technology and excellent manpower. It plays a role as a key player in the venture ecosystem that realizes profits by collecting the investment through various means after growth. Venture capital's job is to recruit various investors(LPs) to invest in small and medium-sized venture companies with growth potential through the formation of venture investment funds, and to collect investment as companies grow, distribute and reinvest. The main tasks of venture capitalists, which play the most important role in venture investment, are finding promising companies, corporate analysis and evaluation, investment screening, follow-up management, and investment recovery. Venture capital's success indicators are fund formation and return on investment, and venture capitalists are rewarded with annual salary, performance-based incentive, and promotion with work performance such as investment, exit, and fund formation. Compared to the recent rapidly growing venture investment market, investment manpower is insufficient, and venture capital is making great efforts to foster manpower and establish infrastructure and systems for long-term service, but research has been conducted mainly from a quantitative perspective. Accordingly, this study aims to empirically analyzed the impact of investment experience, delegation of authority, job fit, and peer relationships on fund formation and return on investment according to the characteristics of the venture capital industry. The results of these empirical studies suggested that future venture capital needs a job environment and manpower operation strategy so that venture capitalists with high job fit and investment experience can work for a long time.