Entrepreneurship is a booming topic. More and more entrepreneurs set out to launch their own startups to eventually turn them into unicorns one day. But what makes people choose a risky, unsafe alternative over a safe, waged employment? I digged into personal motives, social and cultural aspects to fully understand the drivers of entrepreneurship. To get empirical evidence, a study among startup founders from TU Munich was conducted.
Chapter 1 will therefore describe the nature of HTSOs, differentiate their nature from non-technology start-ups and further highlight their importance in securing economic progress. After getting an understanding of the topic’s importance to the business community and why exactly such specific foundations are subject of this thesis, the focus in Chapter 2 shifts from an institutional to a personal level.
Chapter 2 will investigate different theories which explain how an individual’s characteristics and personality are shaped throughout the course of life. This is important to get an understanding of the core subject of this thesis, the individuals who have come-up with promising innovations and founded their own spin-off. Research on start-ups and their founders is relatively new compared to traditional fields of studies, but has already contributed remarkable insights into founder characteristics, personality traits of founders and success factors of start-ups in general.
Chapter 3 is dedicated to the empirical section of this thesis, describing the methodology of the survey and conducting a descriptive analysis of the survey findings. In a second step, the results are discussed and elaborated on in more detail.
At a glance
- Grade: 1.3 (1.0 is the best grade)
- Survey analysis of 30 respondents
- Sample drawn from founders formerly affiliated with TUM
- 37 sources in the bibliography
- 2 figures and 6 tables
Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION
2 HIGH-TECH SPIN-OFFS
2.1 Classification of High-Tech Spin-Offs
2.1.1 Definition of High-Tech
2.1.2 Definition of High-Tech Spin-Offs
2.2 Parent Organization’s Relevance
2.2.1 Setting an Impetus for Entrepreneurship
2.2.2 Power of Reputation
2.3 From Storehouse to Factory of Knowledge
3 FOUNDER CHARACTERISTICS
3.1 Trait Theory
3.1.1 Need for Achievement
3.1.2 Locus-of-Control
3.1.3 Effectuation
3.1.4 Tolerance of Ambiguity
3.2 Socio Cultural Theory
3.2.1 Social Capital
3.2.2 Cultural Capital
3.3 Human Capital
3.4 Entrepreneurial Human Capital
4 EMPIRICAL RESEARCH
4.1 Methodology
4.2 Descriptive Analysis
4.2.1 Demographic Characteristics
4.2.2 Venture Characteristics
4.2.3 Entrepreneurial Characteristics
4.2.4 The average High-Tech Spin-Off Founder
4.3 Discussion
4.3.1 Impact of Self-Efficacy on Perceived Success
4.3.2 Impact of Previous Founding Experience on Perceived Success
4.3.3 Impact of Human Capital on Perceived Success
5 CONCLUSION
Objectives and Topics
This thesis investigates how the characteristics of founders of high-tech spin-offs differ, which characteristics they may share, and how selected characteristics relate to perceived venture outcomes. It combines a review of psychological and sociocultural theories with an analysis of survey data from a selected group of entrepreneurs.
- Academic spin-offs and the role of parent organizations
- Entrepreneurial personality traits and decision-making under uncertainty
- Social, cultural, human and entrepreneurial human capital
- Founder demographics and venture characteristics
- Self-efficacy, founding experience and perceived success
Excerpt from the Book
3 FOUNDER CHARACTERISTICS
Compared to regular start-ups, academic spin-offs seem to have much better conditions to form a company due to the support of their parent organization, which founders of regular start-ups often lack but wish for. The conversion of these seemingly optimal conditions for founding a spin-off into an eventually successful and profitable business heavily relies on the founder and the decision he/she makes as an entrepreneur.
There has been a lot of research on factors and characteristics which successful entrepreneurs must not lack and which determine a start-ups success. The research focus on success-determining factors basically tries to identify a skill-set embedded in an entrepreneur which facilitates success and differentiates winners from losers. The research focus of this thesis tries to deliver insights into drivers of entrepreneurship in academia and whether there is a significant set of characteristics common in spin-off entrepreneurs. Who are these people who more or less choose great uncertainty and risk over secure and safe alternatives when making the decision of becoming self-employed in order to exploit an opportunity?
Amongst others, BARNEY/BUSENITZ (1997) state that entrepreneurs face greater uncertainty than managers of established companies since they cannot rely on neither historical data nor past performance. They are faced with decision-making under uncertainty due to little or no specific market information. Furthermore the market‘s acceptance of their new products or services contains a great amount of uncertainty. So far empirical evidence was not sufficient enough to identify unique characteristics, competencies or traits which trigger and shape the entrepreneurial development process in individuals. The reason might be the complex individuality of any human being - incorporating the impacts of psychological traits and different forms of capital such as social, cultural and human capital. Further shaped by environmental factors, a set of characteristics evolves – forming an individual’s personality - and by deviation, an attitude which can be favorable of entrepreneurship.
In the following, several theories which try to explain favorable factors under which entrepreneurship is most likely to emerge are reviewed.
Chapter Summaries
1 INTRODUCTION: Introduces the economic context of academic entrepreneurship and sets out the investigation into founder characteristics.
2 HIGH-TECH SPIN-OFFS: Defines high-tech spin-offs and discusses technology transfer, university support and the importance of parent organizations.
3 FOUNDER CHARACTERISTICS: Reviews trait theory and sociocultural approaches, as well as social, cultural, human and entrepreneurial human capital.
4 EMPIRICAL RESEARCH: Describes the survey methodology and sample, then examines founder and venture characteristics and relationships with perceived success.
5 CONCLUSION: Reflects on the study’s findings and limitations and suggests directions for entrepreneurship education and further research.
Keywords
high-tech spin-offs, academic entrepreneurship, founder characteristics, parent organizations, trait theory, effectuation, social capital, cultural capital, human capital, entrepreneurial human capital, self-efficacy, founding experience, perceived success
Frequently Asked Questions
What is this thesis about?
It examines characteristics of founders associated with high-tech spin-offs and how selected characteristics relate to perceived venture success.
What are the main topics?
The thesis covers academic spin-offs, university support, entrepreneurial traits, different forms of capital and an empirical survey of founders.
What is the primary research objective?
The author seeks to understand differences and potential commonalities in founder characteristics and their relationship with venture outcomes.
What research method is used?
The thesis combines a literature review with descriptive and regression analyses of questionnaire responses from 30 respondents. The survey forms part of a larger research framework designed around conjoint analysis.
What does the main body cover?
It defines high-tech spin-offs, reviews theories of entrepreneurial behavior and analyzes founder demographics, venture characteristics, self-efficacy and prior founding experience.
Which keywords characterize the work?
Key terms include academic entrepreneurship, founder characteristics, effectuation, human capital, self-efficacy and perceived success.
Who was selected for the survey?
Participants were selected from German-speaking chief executive entrepreneurs who had previously studied or worked at TUM and founded businesses in high-tech or e-commerce industries.
How does the thesis distinguish university spin-offs from independent start-ups?
It characterizes university spin-offs through the transfer of personnel and technology or innovative ideas from a university to a new venture, while independent start-ups are not backed by a parent organization.
How is prior founding experience examined?
The empirical discussion considers previous founding experience alongside gender or education when analyzing perceived venture success.
- Quote paper
- Michael Strommer (Author), 2016, Differences of Founder Characteristics in High-Tech Spin-Offs. Which factors influence the decision to become a startup-founder?, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/335596
