• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.25-37
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to survey startup founders within 7 years of founding the importance and satisfaction of the components of the scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem at the national level in Korea and analyze the direction of scale-up policy by component using IPA (importance-performance analysis). Since the perception of founders, who are the subjects of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, affects the quantity and quality of start-ups, research is needed to analyze and diagnose the perception of scale-up components. For the development of the national economy and entrepreneurial ecosystem, companies that emerge from startups to scale-up and unicorns must be produced, and for this, elements for the scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem are needed. The results of this study are as follows. First, the importance ranking of the components of the scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem recognized by founders was in the order of "Financial support by growth stage," "Support for customized scale-up for enterprises," "Improvement of regulations," "Funds dedicated to scale-up," "large-scale investment," and "nurturing technical talents." Second, the factors that should be intensively improved in the importance-satisfaction matrix in the future were 'Pan-Government Integration Promotion Plan', 'Scale-Up Specialized Organization Operation', 'Company Customized Scale-Up Support', 'Regulatory Improvement', and 'Building a Korean Scale-Up Model'. As a result, various and large financial capital for the scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem, diversification of scale-up programs by business sector, linkage of start-ups and scale-up support, deregulation of new technologies and new industries, strengthening corporate-tailored scale-up growth capabilities, and providing overseas networking opportunities can be derived. In addition, it is expected to contribute to policy practice and academic work with research that derives the components of the domestic scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem and diagnoses its perception.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.191-209
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• 2023

Amid rapid changes in technological innovation due to the influence of the 4th Industrial Revolution and COVID-19, research related to absorption capacity and patent activities to promote technological innovation of Korean technology start-ups is important in this uncertain environment. This study aims to examine the effects on entrepreneurial performance and patent activities by reconstructing absorptive capacity, an organizational capability, for technology-based startups in fields such as BT and ICT with less than seven years of establishment, distinguishing between potential absorptive capacity and realized absorptive capacity. The study also seeks to develop a theoretical research model. To accomplish this, data was collected from managerial executives, including CEOs of 215 technology startups. The following hypotheses were tested: Firstly, potential absorptive capacity had a significant impact on patent activities, while realized absorptive capacity did not. Secondly, potential absorptive capacity had a significant impact on technological performance, while realized absorptive capacity did not. Thirdly, both potential and realized absorptive capacity had a significant impact on financial and non-financial performance. Fourthly, patent activities indirectly influenced potential absorptive capacity and technological performance, but did not affect realized absorptive capacity. Fifthly, patent activities indirectly influenced potential absorptive capacity and financial performance, but did not affect realized absorptive capacity. Lastly, patent activities indirectly influenced potential absorptive capacity and non-financial performance, but did not affect realized absorptive capacity. The practical significance of this study lies in providing useful guidelines for building the core capabilities of organizations through absorptive capacity and patent activities. Furthermore, it is expected that startups that have not recognized the formation process of absorptive capacity for patent activities will perceive the formation mechanism of absorptive capability anew and show considerable interest in future potential and realized absorptive capacity as part of their management strategies. This is anticipated to play an important role in adapting to rapidly changing technological advancements, the startup ecosystem, and securing sustainable competitive advantages.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1-20
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• 2023

This study attempted to identify the relationship between the investment determinants of accelerators and investment performance through empirical analysis. Through literature review, four dimensions and 12 measurement items were extracted for investment determinants, which are independent variables, and investment performance was adjusted to the cumulative amount of subsequent investment based on previous studies. Performance data from 594 companies selected by TIPS from 2017 to 2019, which are relatively reliable and easy to secure data, were collected, and the subsequent investment cumulative attraction amount, which is a dependent variable, was hypothesized through multiple regression analysis three years after the investment. As a result of the study, 'industrial experience years' in the characteristics of founders, 'market size', 'market growth', 'competitive strength', and 'number of patents' in the characteristics of products and services had a significant positive (+) effect. The impact of independent variables on dependent variables was most influenced by the competitive strength of market characteristics, followed by the number of years of industrial experience, the number of patents, the size of the market, and market growth. This was different from the results of previous studies conducted mainly on qualitative research methods, and in most previous studies, the characteristics of founders were the most important, but the empirical analysis results were market characteristics. As a sub-factor, the intensity of competition, which was the subordinate to the importance of previous studies, had the greatest influence in empirical analysis. The academic significance of this study is that it presented a specific methodology to collect and build 594 empirical samples in the absence of empirical research on accelerator investment determinants, and created an opportunity to expand the theoretical discussion of investment determinants through causal research. In practice, the information asymmetry and uncertainty of startups that accelerators have can help them make effective investment decisions by establishing a systematic model of experience-dependent investment determinants.