The Strength of Weak Firms: New Venture Organizing Flexibility

Abstract

How do the strategies of startups differ from those of the established organizations? It is important to understand two fundamental liabilities of new ventures to find answers to this inquiry. First, because founders tend to have prior work experience from other companies in the same industry, and they are already encultured to the industry norm, it is difficult for entrepreneurs to differentiate their organizational form, culture and identity, and products and services from their potential competitors. Second, many new ventures start their businesses in the markets where established players dominate. The stability of new ventures is often questioned, and they also lack the status of larger established firms, so resource mobilization is extremely challenging. This symposium aims to investigate the strategies that startups can take to leverage these two fundamental burdens, so that they turn into advantages instead. To that end, we invite scholars whose respective work falls under one of the following two categories: startup strategies to (a) gain and create resources and (b) organize activities. Unlocking Value from Startups’ Ties to Established Firms: The Role of the Entrepreneurs’ Background Presenter: Sarath Balachandran; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Chasing Talent: Startup Hiring Through Firm-Driven Search Presenter: J. Daniel Kim; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Presenter: Michael Pergler; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania When Do New Ventures Use a Clean Slate to Build Something Different? Presenter: Yeonsin Ahn; INSEAD Deference and Asymmetric Alliance Formation Between Ventures Presenter: Emily Cox-Pahnke; U. of Washington Presenter: Toby Li; Texas A&M U. Presenter: Michael Deane Howard; Texas A&M U., College Station Presenter: Leif Brändle; U. of Hohenheim Biased Sampling of Early Users and the Direction of Startup Innovation Presenter: Ruiqing Cao; - Presenter: Rembrand Michael Koning; Harvard Business School Presenter: Ramana Nanda; Imperial College London