• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.141-156
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• 2023

The advancement of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), along with the expansion of government and private investment in startup discovery and funding, has led to the emergence of startups seeking to generate outstanding results based on innovative ideas. As successful startups serve as role models, the number of aspiring entrepreneurs preparing to launch their own startups continues to increase. However, unlike entrepreneurs who challenge themselves with serial entrepreneurship after experiencing success, early-stage startups face various challenges such as team building, technology development, and fundraising. Accelerators play a dual role of mentor and investor by providing education, mentoring, consulting, network connection, and initial investment activities to help startups overcome various challenges they face and facilitate their growth. This study investigated whether there is a correlation between the characteristics of startups and their entrepreneurial performance, and analyzed whether accelerators mediate the relationship between startup characteristics and entrepreneurial performance. A total of 11 hypotheses were proposed, and a survey was conducted on 302 startup founders and employees located across the country, including the metropolitan area, for empirical research. SPSS 23.0 and Amos 23.0 were used for statistical analysis. Through this study, it was found that factors such as innovation, organizational culture, financial characteristics, and learning orientation among the characteristics of startups, rather than having a direct impact on entrepreneurial performance, are linked to entrepreneurial performance through the role of accelerators. By analyzing the impact factors of startup characteristics on entrepreneurial performance, this study presents research on the role of accelerators and provides institutional improvements. It is expected to contribute to the expansion of investment and differentiated acceleration programs, enabling startups to seize the market and grow stably in the market.

• 한국벤처창업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2023.11a
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• pp.173-178
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• 2023

스타트업이 초기 시장진출의 진입장벽을 극복하고, 신제품의 시장 진출 이후에 경쟁력을 잃어 실패하고 마는 데스밸리(DeathValley)를 극복해내기 위해서는 시장 진입 및 시장에서의 지속가능한 성장을 위한 다양한 마케팅 역량이 중요하다고 할 수 있으며, 스타트업이 실패하는 주된 원인에 대한 조사 결과 시장이 원하지 않는 제품을 개발하는 것이 주된 이유로 조사됨에 따라 고객의 요구에 부합하도록 상품을 만다는 것에 대한 중요성이 더욱 대두되고 있다. 다만 상대적으로 대기업이나 중소기업에 비해 자본력과 지속성에 약점을 갖고 있는 스타트업에 있어서는 마케팅에 어려움을 겪고 있고 있다. 본 연구는 이러한 문제를 해결하기 위해 스타트업 제품선택속성이 제품 선호도에 어떠한 영향을 주고 구매의도 및 구전의도까지 연결이 되는지를 확인하여 스타트업이 제품 개발 시 소비자의 수요에 부합한 제품을 개발하고, 효과적인 마케팅 전략을 도출할 수 있도록 기초자료를 제시하는데 목적을 두었다. 본 연구의 주요 내용은 첫째, 선행연구를 통해 제품 구입 시 영향을 미치는 선택 속성을 가격, 디자인, 편의성, 기능으로 구성하여 각각의 제품 선택 속성이 제품 선호도에 미치는 영향에 대한 연구를 진행했으며, 둘째, 선호도가 구매의도에 미치는 영향과 선호도가 구전의도에 미치는 영향에 대한 연구를 진행했다. 본 연구결과를 통해 제품 선택 속성과 제품 선호도, 구매의도 및 구매의도 간의 연관성을 파악할 수 있으며, 이에 따라 제품 선호도, 구매의도 및 구전의도에 영향을 미치는 제품 선택 속성에 대한 중요성을 제시할 수 있다. 아울러, 본 연구결과는 스타트업이 소비자의 구매행동을 이해 및 예측한 제품을 개발하고 이를 반영한 마케팅 전략을 수립함에 있어 적용할 수 있는 기초자료를 제공하고, 이를 통해 문제 해결 실행 대안을 제시하는 것에 그 의미가 있다.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.127-135
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• 2020

The purpose of this paper is to classify individual startups by growth stage based on data-based quantitative criteria. This is to provide a basis for systematic support for government startups based on accurate statistics on the startup growth process. This startups were the TIPS (Tech Incubator Program for Startup) support company, which used a relatively reliable startup. We found seed money to complete MVP (Minimum Viable Product) within 1.5 years after establishment, verified PMF (Product-Market Fit) within 1 year, attracted Series A investment within 2.5 years after establishment, and successfully commercialized it. It attracted Series B investment for stable growth within 1.5 years (Series B investment within 4 years from start-up). The results of the study, the division of government programs that support stage-based startup commercialization, that is, within three years and within seven years of establishment, is significant to date. Three directions are suggested for future research. First, develop indicators for monitoring startup growth stages. Second, it continuously updates the annual changes and tracks the growth stages of individual startups. Third, we discover the successful growth law of technology-based startups by applying in-depth case analysis of successful startups to the model.

• 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.17 no.3
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• pp.19-31
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• 2022

Currently, the role of public accelerators in the domestic accelerator market is gradually expanding. Accordingly, in order to establish relevant policies properly, it is necessary to check the effect and validity of public accelerators' investment. However, there is no quantitative research conducted on domestic accelerators, using their financial data, as domestic accelerators have a short history and quantitative data on them are not disclosed. Therefore, this study conducted an empirical analysis with financial data of the startups that received equity investments from public accelerators to confirm the effect of public accelerators'investment in startups. A regression analysis was conducted with financial data from 112 startups that acquired investments from public accelerators in the period of 2016~2020. And the findings are as follows: First, it was found that the initial investment of public accelerators had an effect on the growth and profitability of startups. Specifically, it was confirmed that the initial investment of public accelerators had a positive (+) effect on sales growth rates and total asset growth rates, which are growth indicators. Second, it was found that the joint investment of public accelerators had a significant positive (+) effect on profit margin, an indicator of profitability, rather than on growth. Therefore, it is deemed that it will be a great force for growth if investment in the early-stage startups that showed significant investment results in this study is continuously expanded in combination with support projects, which are a strength of public accelerators. Since this study has confirmed the investment effect of public accelerators, it is deemed necessary to actively promote policies that direct public accelerators' projects toward improving the performance of startups through joint investment with the private sector and supplementing private accelerators' deficiencies.

• 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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• 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.

• The Journal of Bigdata
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.83-94
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to investigate how startup companies with the UGC platform service model can traverse the death valley for the company's survival with limited resources and create a mutually beneficial market. To do this, an interview-based exploratory study was conducted to analyze the cause and effect of each factor on the initial activation strategy of the UGC platform. For many start-up companies, this research helps minimize errors in strategic trial and error.

• 한국벤처창업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2019.04a
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• pp.7-11
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• 2019

최근 대학을 기반으로 한 스타트업 육성 정책 및 학생 스타트업의 초기 시장 진입을 위한 엑셀러레이팅 프로그램은 매년 증가하고 있으나, 스타트업의 성공적인 투자 유치 사례는 부족하다. 많은 투자 성공 결정 요인 중 기존 선행연구를 통해 새로운 벤처의 투자 여부를 결정할 때 기업가와 관련된 요소들이 연구되었으나, 투자자와 기업가 사이에 형성되는 투자 결정 과정에 대한 연구가 부족하다. 따라서 본 연구에서는SEED 단계의 세 번의 투자를15개의 질문을 통해 분석하여 투자 성공에 가중치를 주는 3가지 요인을 (팀 역량, 보유 기술 역량, 심사역과의 관계) 찾아냈으며, 투자 진행 정도에 따라 인지(Awareness), 알아감(Knowing), 유치(Meeting)로 나누어 각 단계에서 전략적인 경영자의 행동이 투자에 미치는 영향에 대해 분석했다. 학생 기술 창업자들 중 40억이상 투자 받은 기업은 드물다. 이는 학생 창업자들의 투자 유치에 필요한 구체적인 메뉴얼이 부족하기 때문이라고 생각한다. 모든 학생 창업가들이 '(주)레티널'의 성공사례와 유사할 수는 없지만, 유사한 환경에서 창업을 하고 있는 사례를 구체적으로 분석한 본 사례를 통해 학생들의 투자 유치시 구체적인 전략을 수립하는데 도움을 줄 것이라고 시대한다. 또한 대학 창업의 투자 성공률을 높이는데 기여할 수 있을 것이라고 생각된다.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.189-201
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to analyze the ICT startup investment status in Korea and examine the relationship between startups and venture capitals by network analysis. In this study, the Gephi was used to analyze network attribute values and to compare the results of each centrality. As a result of the analysis, IMM investment, Altos Ventures, and Smilegate Investment were located in the top ranks in each centrality. It can present that venture capital companies ranked high in betweenness centrality, closeness centrality, eigenvector centrality have continuously invested in growing startups into unicorns from 2014 to 2019. These results can be used as data for startups want to receive funding from venture capital in the future in consider to the relation of startup and invest industry. This study provides information to develop strategies for the sustainable venture investment environment in Korea of stakeholders such as startups, venture capital, consumers, and the government; as a result, it can help various follow-up studies in the field of startups and venture capital.