• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.197-216
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• 2019

The Korean government has been focusing on supporting technology startups to solve social and economic problems such as low growth, declining economic growth rate, rising youth unemployment rate and lack of new growth engine. Although the failure rate of young technology startups is very high, relevant researches are still scant. On the basis of previous researches, this study has identified four growth factors of technology startups: characteristics of entrepreneurs, technical superiority and originality of business items, focused marketing strategy, and follow-up government support projects. Five young technology startup cases were selected and analyzed in the cosmetics industry which were supported by the Six-month Challenge Platform project of Chungbuk Creation Economic Innovation Center. The main findings of the case study were as follows: First, product development through inhouse R&D rather than external contracted R&D was beneficial to acquiring follow-up government support projects and external investment. Second, choosing a small niche market and concentrating marketing efforts on the target market had a positive effect on firm performance. And, third, relevance of entrepreneurs' college major and technological originality of business items were confirmed to influence firm performance positively in the early stage. The results are expected to help young technology startups survive successfully and establish a foothold for growth in their early stage.

• Korean small business review
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.135-165
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• 2020

This study aimed to examine relationships between founders' entrepreneurial leadership, team learning behavior, team boundary spanning, and perceived performance in early-stage startups. The following results were recorded: (i) the indirect effects of entrepreneurial leadership on perceived performance via team learning behavior were statistically significant (β=.309, p<.05). (ii) relationships between team learning behavior and perceived performance were strengthened by team boundary spanning behavior (β=.259, p<.05). In this study, three practical implications are provided as follows: (i) startups need to seek team learning readiness and external learning stimulus to facilitate generative and transformative team learning; (ii) accelerators need to develop an entrepreneurial leadership program for founders; and (iii) startups need to explore external information by interacting with investors, R&D institutions, and other startups to strengthen the impact of team learning behavior on performance. Furthermore, two directions for future research are suggested as follows: (i) future researchers need to test causal relationships between entrepreneurial leadership and team learning behavior based on a newly designed time-series measurement plan; (ii) the actual effects of entrepreneurial leadership, team learning behavior and team boundary spanning on financial performance need to be tested two or three years later when the financial performance of early-stage startups usually becomes evident.

• 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.

• Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.83-95
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• 2022

Given the importance of SMEs in the Korean economy, research of the performance of SMEs is more necessary than ever. Therefore, this study aims to empirically analyze the factors influencing management performance for early-stage international startups in Korea. To do that, this study empirically analyzes the nine firm capabilities' (global mind, export infra, manpower internationality, funding, communicating, marketing, cooperating, competitiveness and reflecting) influence on the two business performances (fulfillment satisfaction and export). This study used SPSS of frequency, factor, reliability, correlation, and stepwise regression analysis with the GCL test data approved by the DSZ of Kdata. As results show, competitiveness, cooperating, and reflating capability positively influence fulfillment satisfaction. And manpower internationality and cooperating capability positively affect export. Based on this study result, implications for management and academic contribution and future study are suggested.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2024

In the midst of the current turbulent global economy, traditional investment metrics are undergoing a metamorphosis, signaling the onset of what's often referred to as an "Investment cold season". Early-stage startups, despite their boundless potential, grapple with immediate revenue constraints, intensifying their pursuit of critical investments. While financial indicators once took center stage in investment evaluations, a notable paradigm shift is underway. Organizational culture, once relegated to the sidelines, has now emerged as a linchpin in forecasting a startup's resilience and enduring trajectory. Our comprehensive research, integrating insights from CVF and OCAI, unveils the intricate relationship between organizational culture and its magnetic appeal to investors. The results indicate that startups with a pronounced external focus, expertly balanced with flexibility and stability, hold particular allure for investment consideration. Furthermore, the study underscores the pivotal role of adhocracy and market-driven mindsets in shaping investment desirability. A significant observation emerges from the study: startups, whether they secured investment or failed to do so, consistently display strong clan culture, highlighting the widespread importance of nurturing a positive employee environment. Leadership deeply anchored in market culture, combined with an unwavering commitment to innovation and harmonious organizational practices, emerges as a potent recipe for attracting investor attention. Our model, with an impressive 88.3% predictive accuracy, serves as a guiding light for startups and astute investors, illuminating the intricate interplay of culture and investment success in today's economic landscape.

• Journal of Korea Game Society
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.67-74
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• 2014

Real options valuation models are now proved as a effective valuation method both in Theoretically and empirically. However, to use real options model for early stage start-ups, additional non-financial information is crucial in the valuation process. Previous studies theoretically suggested the modified real options valuation model and process to use non-financial information in the valuation of early stage startups, but there is no empirical evidence on the suggested model. Therefore, this study investigated the effectiveness of the modified real options valuation model using a case study. The case study result showed that the modified real options valuation effectively reflect the non-financial information in early stage startups, and decrease the forecasting error in the valuation process.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.27-42
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• 2020

Startup accelerators have emerged as new investment entities that help early startups, which are not easy to survive continuously due to lack of funds, commercialization capabilities, and experiences. As their positive performance on early startups and the ecosystem has been proven, the number of early startups which want to receive their investment is also increasing. However, they are vaguely preparing to attract accelerators' investment because they do not have any information on what factors the accelerators consider important. In addition, researches on startup accelerators are also at an early level, so there are no remarkable prior studies on factors that decide on investment. Therefore, this study aims to help startups prepare for investment attraction by looking at what factors are important for accelerators to invest, and to provide meaningful implications to academia. In the preceding study, we derived five upper level categories, 26 lower level accelerators' investment determinants through the qualitative meta-synthesis method, secondary data analysis, observation on US accelerators and in-depth interviews. In this study, we want to derive important implications by deriving priorities of the accelerators' investment determinants. Therefore, we used AHP that are evaluated as the suitable methodology for deriving importance and priority. The analysis results show that accelerators value market-related factors most. This means that startups that are subject to investment by accelerators are early-stage startups, and many companies have not fully developed their products or services. Therefore, market-related factors that can be evaluated objectively seem to be more important than products (or services) that are still ambiguous. Next, it was found that the factors related to the internal workforce of startups are more important. Since accelerators want to develop their businesses together with start-ups and team members through mentoring, ease of collaboration with them is very important, which seems to be important. The overall priority analysis results of the 26 investment determinants show that 'customer needs' and 'founders and team members' understanding of customers and markets' (0.62) are important and high priority factors. The results also show that startup accelerators consider the customer-centered perspective very important. And among the factors related to startups, the most prominent factor was the founder's openness and execution ability. Therefore, it can be confirmed that accelerators consider the ease of collaboration with these startups very important.

• 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.13 no.3
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• pp.37-46
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• 2018

This paper define the research problem as the jeopardized situation of most startups in early chasm. Korean government have put more policy focus on helping these startups to jump over the chasm. One of the effective policy measures helps these startups defining the core competencies validated from target customers, in-housing them effectively, and therefore enhancing the level of differentiation against the competitors by "Product Pivoting Training Boots Camp." It ultimately give the key nudge to startups in struggling with unsold products after initial launch to the market. This paper carried out the empirical test to the target sample of startups participating in this camp. In particular, this research analyze the level of satisfaction of startups, as move along with characteristics of the participant and training program, going through this camp whether it enhance their will of application into real business case. The survey were delivered and collected from 203 startups in attending "Product Pivoting Academy, the following program of Startup Jump-up package policy module. The research result shows that all startups participating in this academy were so much satisfied and motivated strongly to take the training process into applying real business case in order to increase sales. The quality of the training program and the characteristics of the participants had mediating variable effects on the will of application with respect to the level of satisfaction. It imply that the program should put more attention on improving coaches' nudge and learning motivation of participants to enhance the level program satisfaction.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.81-97
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• 2022

This paper's purpose is to get hold of the recent research trend by analyzing the variables uesd in startups related papers. The startups related papers in this paper are the papers which include 'startups' in the title of the registered papers from the year 2013 to the year 2020. This study's analysis methods are text-mining of all variables and text-network analysis of affected variables. Visualizing tool for network analysis is Gephi. The result of variables' analysis is as follows. First, independent variables consist mainly of variables about startups' internal factors and outside environment, but due to startups' features like early stage company's features, innovative features, most of variables are about enterprise internal competitiveness, marketing 4P strategy, entrepreneurship, coopreation method, transformational leadership, enterprise features, lean startup strategy, enterprise internal communication, value orientation, task conflict, relationship conflict, knowledge sharing, etc. Second, dependent variables are mainly about outcome, and are classified into financial performance and non-financial performance by overall concept. In other words, startups related papers have higher interest in non-financial performance, like management performance, team performance, SCM performance as well as financial performance like sales quantity owing to startups' immaturity in getting good financial performance. Through this study we can find out as follows. Although there are not many officially registered papers dealing with startups, those papers include various themes about stratups. For example, there are trendy themes like lean startups strategy, crowdfunding, influencer and accelerator, etc.