Narrow Results

In January 2016, the Government of India launched the Startup India initiative, which has transformed the way in which the markets, potential entrepreneurs, and investors view startups. This transformation included a slew of policy measures intended to promote a startup culture and allow younger population members to take risks with their ideas and become “job creators” rather than “job seekers.” India’s demographic dividend required a suitable channelization of human resources. The Startup Action Plan (SAP) of 2016 proposed to address three key areas for empowering potential startups: (i) handholding and simplification; (ii) funding support and incentives; and (iii) incubation and industry–academia partnership. Emerging as the third-largest startup ecosystem of the world, India has potential for enormous growth. There have been several policies at all levels of government, industry, and academia to promote a startup culture. However, it is important to examine these initiatives and determine whether they move beyond the subsidy/tax holiday mindset and work on the root corrections necessary for a robust startup ecosystem. There are several issues that require consideration from the policy and regulatory perspective for a successful startup revolution. This chapter explores these initiatives that the Government of India has taken and identifies the gaps that require attention from stakeholders. The chapter also investigates the major challenges and potential solutions arising from the Indian experience of initiatives in the startup revolution.

Entrepreneurs are a product of their social environment. The manner by which they perceive opportunities; access or process information; and make decisions is, influenced by both social interaction, and their social background. Using insights from Socially Situated Cognition (SSC) theory, that posits one’s social environment can have a normative or informative effect on decision-making process we consider proximal social factors influencing the decision-making processes of student entrepreneurs. We propose that entrepreneurial education, networking, and incubation spaces provide direct information to students to aid entrepreneurial decision-making, and indirect informational cues that are situational, synergistic and omnipresent. Noting the multi-faceted and dynamic nature of the entrepreneurial journey of the student, we explore the potential effect of each of these factors on the student decision-making process. We discuss the implications of this inquiry from a researcher and educator perspective, and note the current challenges faced by student entrepreneurs in a socially distanced educational and entrepreneurial context. It is envisaged that this paper will serve as the basis for further thought and empiricism.

This paper highlights the relevance of innovation in small firms based on university business incubators in Portugal. Ever since Schumpeter indicated innovation to be the main economic driver of economic development and a critical factor in the development and performance of companies, a number of authors have discussed this phenomenon but there is still no consensus on how it operates. Through statistical analysis, the study focuses on a sample of 243 Portuguese companies based on incubators linked to or promoted by universities. It was concluded that product innovation is most significant in an incubation environment, and also that the origin of businesses and the development of R&D activities determine the type of innovation generated. However, most of the companies surveyed are not engaged in R&D activities. We propose some policy measures and lessons for management.