A process study of entrepreneurial team formation: the case of a research-based spin-off

Abstract

This paper describes how a team of entrepreneurs is formed in a high-tech start-up, how the team copes with crisis situations during the start-up phase, and how both the team as a whole and the team members individually learn from these crises. The progress of a high-tech university spin-off has been followed up from the idea phase until the post-start-up phase. Adopting a prospective, qualitative approach, the basic argument of this paper is that shocks in the founding team and the position of its champion co-evolve with shocks in the development of the business.