The research objective of this study was to explore how the startup idea development progress was experienced by entrepreneurs and how the Lean Startup Approach (LSA) affected that progress in early stage high-tech entrepreneurship. The Lean Startup movement has gained a lot of traction not only in the Silicon Valley area, but also to some extent in Europe. However, with increasing popularity, criticism starts to get formulated as well. Due to the limited coverage of the LSA, its principles and related management practices in academic literature, it remains difficult to critically assess the validity and effectiveness of the proposed concept. With this study, light is shed on the LS phenomenon by interviewing representative high-tech entrepreneurs and leading proponents of the LS principles and practices.
In order to better understand LS principles at work with an emphasis on experienced startup idea development progress, semi-structure interviews with seven Lean Startup Machine (LSM) event participants as well as one mentoring subject matter expert were conducted. The interviewed practitioners were purposely selected from the most and least performing teams according to the appraisal of the LSM event judges. The main reason for choosing the LSM event is the fact that the LSM projects, while somewhat artificial, do provide condensed versions of real life startups, which provides a high information to effort ratio to me as a researcher. Furthermore, a LSA survey tailored to the opportunity development process and a post-LSM-event survey were conducted.
The purpose of the multiple mini-cases study (which treated each team working on an entrepreneurial idea as a mini-case) was to explore the opportunity development progress and the role of LS principles and practices from the perspective of consumer Internet high-tech entrepreneurs and LS proponents (mentors) in a highly time-constrained real world LS practitioner event in the USA. Learning about how participants of the event perceived and experienced development progress and the LSA provided insights into the relevance of the LS methodology as a means to accelerate the development progress of an early stage startup idea towards a viable opportunity.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Preface
- Introduction
- Problem Statement
- Background and Need
- Objective of the Study
- Research Questions
- Significance to the Field
- Definitions
- Thesis Outline and Approach
- Literature Review
- Introduction and Approach
- Entrepreneurship Theory and Entrepreneurial Process
- Lean Startup Approach
- Notion of the Lean Startup
- Key principles
- Key management practices
- Research Methodology
- Research Strategy
- Research Design
- Setting, case and participant selection
- Data collection
- Data analysis
- Case study protocol and case study database
- Ethical considerations
- Evaluation of the Research Design
- Summary
- Results and Discussion
- Lean Startup Approach Survey
- Results
- Discussion
- Case Study Analysis
- Case and participant description
- Disparity in productivity
- Lean Startup Approach effect on opportunity development progress
- Lean Startup Approach effect on team performance
- Discussion
- Derived Model Instance
- Lean Startup Approach Survey
- Conclusion
- Summary of Major Findings
- Implications
- Practice
- Research
- Limitations
- Future work
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
The main objective of this Master thesis is to investigate the effectiveness of the Lean Startup approach in facilitating opportunity development in early-stage high-tech entrepreneurship. The thesis aims to explore the impact of this approach on both the progress of opportunity development and team performance.
- The Lean Startup Approach in High-Tech Entrepreneurship
- Impact of Lean Startup on Opportunity Development
- Influence of Lean Startup on Team Performance
- Empirical Evidence through Case Study Analysis
- Implications for Practice and Future Research
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
- Introduction: This chapter introduces the problem statement, outlines the background and need for this study, and defines the research objectives and questions. It also emphasizes the significance of this research to the field of entrepreneurship and clarifies key definitions.
- Literature Review: This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of relevant literature on entrepreneurship theory, the entrepreneurial process, and the Lean Startup approach. It explores the key principles and management practices associated with the Lean Startup methodology.
- Research Methodology: This chapter details the research strategy, design, data collection methods, and data analysis techniques employed in the study. It describes the case selection process, participant selection criteria, and ethical considerations.
- Results and Discussion: This chapter presents the results of both the Lean Startup Approach survey and the case study analysis. It examines the impact of the Lean Startup approach on opportunity development and team performance, drawing insights from empirical data.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
The primary keywords and focus topics of this thesis include Lean Startup approach, opportunity development, high-tech entrepreneurship, team performance, case study analysis, empirical research, and entrepreneurial process.
- Quote paper
- Christian Kählig (Author), 2011, Facilitating Opportunity Development: Increasing Understanding of the Lean Startup Approach in Early Stage High-Tech Entrepreneurship, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/174625
