Title: Bound for glory or cursed for life? Exploring the impact of initial resources on the venture emergence of new technology-based firms

Authors: Ferran Giones; Francesc Miralles

Addresses: Mads Clausen Institute, University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Alsion 2, Sønderborg 6400, Denmark; Innova Institute, La Salle – Universitat Ramon Llull (URL), Sant Joan de La Salle 42, Barcelona 08022, Spain ' Innova Institute, La Salle – Universitat Ramon Llull (URL), Sant Joan de La Salle 42, Barcelona 08022, Spain

Abstract: The value of existent firm's resources in uncertain and dynamic contexts is unclear. It is difficult to determine whether starting a new firm with a strong resource position will give an advantage in technology-intense contexts. We propose a revision of the role of resources in new tech-based ventures. We adopt a mixed-method approach. We use the cases of 21 new technology firms to build propositions on what factors (resources) play a role in new venture emergence. We then test to what extent those resources make an effect on the new venture emergence using a longitudinal dataset of 400 new technology-based firms. The results show that not all resources matter equally in the early-stages of a new technology-based firm. We identify that specific combinations of entrepreneurial experience and industry knowledge has a positive impact, while other resources such as technology assets, surprisingly, do not generate a clear impact.

Keywords: technology entrepreneurship; venture emergence; technology resources; panel dataset.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEV.2020.105532

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, 2020 Vol.12 No.2, pp.143 - 160

Received: 10 Jul 2018
Accepted: 17 Nov 2018

Published online: 03 Mar 2020 *

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