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The study explored the secrets of success described by Chinese apparel new ventures. Barney's (1991) resource-based view of the firm helped the researchers understand secrets to success from the firm's internal perspective, and the social network theory informed key secrets from the external perspective (Ahuja, 2000). In-depth interviews with open-ended questions were employed with sixteen top apparel companies in China. Results revealed that having the first successful store is the symbol of success and that success is a never-ending goal. The key secrets to success were described as the founders' ability to find the niche market, their down-to-earth attitude, unique branding position and products, and, finally, external relationships. The study will help Chinese apparel new ventures in realizing the secrets of surviving the initial stage. Academic organizations and governments may want to utilize the study findings to develop more curricula and policies that may be more fruitful for small businesses' success in the long term.

This paper contributes to the literature on new firms in two ways. First, by addressing new venture investment, it focusses on a largely neglected, but important, issue of new firm business decisions. Secondly, it provides a valuable picture for how investing by new businesses is going to evolve over time. Our results suggest that investments by new firms are prone to an s-shaped time pattern rather than a random, linear, or a gradually growing trajectory or a capital market-driven behavior as is assumed usually in the literature on investment decisions. By constructing a framework for future research on new venture investment, this article suggests specific research opportunities for future contributions to this body of knowledge. Based on the developed theorem, four main strands for future research can be identified, namely, (1) the empirical validation of the theorem per se, including trajectory, duration, and level of investment; (2) the link between investment and funding of the venture; (3) the link between investment and new venture development; and (4) investment as an adjustment of aggregate capital stock.

The early years are seen as a crucial period for the survival of ventures and yet only a limited number of studies have focused on successful new ventures when studying capital structure. Furthermore, only a few studies have included longitudinal data, tracking ventures over time, or have elaborated on the difference between short-term and long-term debt ratios when studying capital structure. In this paper, hypotheses are developed, based on capital structure theories and literature on new venture financing, and are tested on longitudinal empirical data. Results of multivariate analysis, through structural equation modeling, reveals that: (1) asset structure assists in explaining the variance in capital structure; (2) explained variance in dependent variables is decreasing for each of the four years studied; and (3) multi-group analysis reveals that the determinants influence short-term and long-term debt differently in the first four years of venture existence. Implications of this study suggest that determinants of capital structure in new ventures require theorizing of its own and demand special attention in entrepreneurial policy-making.

Intellectual capital (IC) has been proposed as an essential factor for organizational survival and maintenance of competitive strength. However, there has been very limited consensus on what encompasses IC and how it can best be conceptualized and measured. Further, very little empirical work has specifically examined the relationship between IC and financial performance. Given these shortcomings, this paper focuses first on the impact IC has on performance and secondly on the role strategic alliances may have on this relationship.

While we argue that IC will impact performance, we anticipate this relationship will be moderated by strategic alliances and other inter-firm collaborations. Findings reveal interesting relationships that suggest further effort should be placed on the conceptualization and measurement of IC, specifically regarding its relationship to firm performance.

Research on innovation has focussed on management structures, processes and tools, whereas research on entrepreneurship and creativity has been more interested in individual personal traits. However, many of the most successful innovative firms and technologies were co-created, by multiple founders. Moreover, these founders typically have different but complementary capabilities, and we argue that it is this interaction of talent that is at the core of many innovative new ventures, what we refer to as Conjoint Innovation. We examine 15 case studies, historical and contemporary, to demonstrate the prevalence and utility of the concept of Conjoint Innovation. We identify three generative mechanisms in such interactions: complementary capabilities; contrasting cognitive and creative styles; and adjacent networks. Whilst multiple founders are a defining condition for Conjoint Innovation, all three generative mechanisms appear to be necessary for constructive interaction and innovation.

Especially established industries, like the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, rely on effective and efficient technology transfer to maintain their competitiveness. Academic spin-offs, corporate spin-outs, and internal start-ups, as different types of new ventures, can be used for technology transfer from universities and research institutions to companies as well as between or within companies. Especially internal start-ups are a new approach for company internal technology transfer from research departments to business units. Based on 12 case studies from the chemical and pharmaceutical industry in Germany and Switzerland, which were identified and developed by narrative interviews with new ventures and parent organisations, like companies, universities, and research institutions, technology transfer through new ventures has been analysed. Despite the various backgrounds and challenges, the different types of new ventures show much more similarities than dissimilarities. Therefore, learnings from academic spin-offs can be transferred to corporate spin-outs and internal start-ups in the context of technology transfer.

Industrial biotechnology is the application of biotechnology for the environment friendly production and processing of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, materials, and bioenergy. The commercial development is mainly driven by multinational enterprises (MNEs), whereas small and medium enterprises (SMEs) contribute primarily to the technological development. The challenge is that generally a technology transfer gap exists between basic research and development (R&D) at universities or research institutions and the commercialisation of the results by established companies. Based on the analysis of 17 case studies from the industrial biotechnology sector, this paper investigates the technology transfer role of spin-offs from universities and research institutions to close the technology transfer gap. Different technology transfer models have been used between established companies and spin-offs after further developing the technology following the spin-off process. Whereas MNEs are very active in making new technologies available both by acquiring spin-offs or engaging them as service providers, SMEs, due to limited financial resources, are more focused on research cooperations with spin-offs, especially by engaging them as service providers.

Although it is argued that competitiveness and successful performance in the long term is facilitated if ventures engage in innovations in diverse domains (e.g., product, process, production, administration, etc.), the development of diversified innovation has been rarely analysed. As the entrepreneurs’ initial motivations to startup are likely to influence their subsequent entrepreneurial behaviour, this study aims to explore whether and how entrepreneurial motivations affect diversified innovation behaviour in startups. Using data on over 48,000 French startups, we present novel insights into the consequences of entrepreneurial motivation for innovation behaviour. In fact, we find that distinct startup motivations can have different effects on the development of diverse innovations. As such, our findings contribute to extant research on innovation development of startups and advance the present understanding of the determinants of startups’ innovative behaviour.

This study investigates how technology-intensive new ventures shape and manage their relationships with incumbents to successfully develop new products. We undertake the dynamic views of business relationship to reveal under what conditions new ventures should emphasises more on transactional contract or alliance approach to develop their relationships with incumbents. Using longitudinal multiple case analysis, we show that transactional contract is less effective during discovery and development stages to facilitate knowledge share and collaborative learning between new ventures and incumbents. However, adopting transactional contract is essential during commercialisation to strengthen the relationship, minimise the drawbacks of social bonds, and motivate both parties to engage in new projects. The results show that tensions between exchange partners are likely to increase when the incumbent is flexible to re-negotiate and share the fair benefits during the commercialisation stage. Our findings provide new insights about the evolution of new ventures’ relationships with incumbents across NPD stages.