Abstract
IntroductionEarly in a technology firm’s lifecycle, most of the firm’s time and resources are dedicated to the design and development of its first product. This is known as the “honeymoon” stage for a startup. The entrepreneur can afford to be extremely flexible with goals and decisions. Once the firm begins to ship products and establishes a group of customers, it must devote
Highlights
In a technology firm’s lifecycle, most of the firm’s time and resources are dedicated to the design and development of its first product
When the entrepreneur’s firm makes its first sale, the dynamics of the organization change and the entrepreneur faces a new challenge: how can the firm concurrently develop new products and support existing customers? This problem is of great concern to entrepreneurs who own small technology firms and is the subject of this article
We describe the paradigm of the ambidextrous organization
Summary
Many technology entrepreneurs start their companies by focusing on an innovation that creates a market offer to attract their first customers. When the entrepreneur’s firm makes its first sale, the dynamics of the organization change and the entrepreneur faces a new challenge: how can the firm concurrently develop new products and support existing customers? This problem is of great concern to entrepreneurs who own small technology firms and is the subject of this article. We first address the innovate-versus-support dilemma that small technology firms face early in their lifecycles. We describe the paradigm of the ambidextrous organization. We conclude with a discussion of five mechanisms small firms can use to achieve balance in their quest to concurrently satisfy the need to innovate while fulfilling the demands of existing clients and products
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