Startups surgem com o intuito de explorar comercialmente uma ideia de potencial inovador. Para isso, necessitam de um conjunto de capacidades técnicas e de negócios, alocando recursos de modo eficiente para obter um produto com valor de mercado. Elas necessitam, portanto, tornar-se firmas e executar um modelo de negócios. Nesse processo, muitas startups fracassam, enquanto outras atingem um bom desempenho e conseguem realizar a oferta pública de ações (IPO), ou mesmo vender o negócio. Torna-se crucial, então, identificar quais são os conjuntos de capacidades necessários para o sucesso e a sobrevivência das startups. Enquanto firmas possuem diferentes arranjos de quatro capacidades de inovação, nomeadamente as capacidades de desenvolvimento, de operação, de gestão e de transação, o assunto ainda é pouco investigado em startups. Isso posto, este estudo tem por objetivo identificar como se configuram as capacidades de inovação em startups. Para alcançar esse objetivo foi realizado um estudo exploratório de abordagem qualitativa no Vale do Silício, no qual foram entrevistadas 11 startups de base tecnológica e 7 profissionais com conhecimentos na área. O estudo evidenciou que startups não possuem as quatro capacidades de inovação, mas necessitam desenvolvê-las a fim de comercializar um bem/serviço no mercado, tornandose firmas. Enquanto as capacidades de desenvolvimento e a de transação são as primeiras a serem desenvolvidas (sendo as mais desenvolvidas), as capacidades de operação e de gestão necessitam ser desenvolvidas à medida que o negócio se expande. O aprendizado por startups também foi identificado como relevante para a construção das capacidades de inovação, processo no qual o rico ecossistema do Vale do Silício desempenha um papel fundamental. Embora esse ecossistema seja importante, a seleção e aplicação dos conhecimentos externos na construção de tais capacidades é uma tarefa que cabe apenas à startup. Evidenciaram-se também os diferentes arranjos de capacidades que podem levar à venda, transformação em firma e fracasso das startups. A principal contribuição teórica do presente estudo foi avaliar, em um único estudo, não apenas capacidades de cunho tecnológico, mas também operacionais, gerenciais e transacionais em startups, destacando sua importância para o sucesso do negócio. Uma segunda contribuição está em evidenciar, por meio da perspectiva da firma, que conhecimentos amplamente disponíveis no ecossistema podem ser irrelevantes para a startup se não forem aplicados adequadamente no desenvolvimento das capacidades. Como contribuição gerencial evidencia-se a necessidade de avaliar o desempenho da startup por meio de métricas, não negligenciando a importância da gestão. Às instituições governamentais sugere-se uma maior ênfase na cobrança de resultados das startups. / Startups are created to commercially explore an ideia with innovative potential. To do so, they need a set of technical and business capabilities, efficiently allocating resources to obtain a product with market value. They need, in such an understanding, to become firms and execute a business model. While searching for such a business model, a high percentage of startups fail, while others perform well and reach the initial public offering (IPO), or even sell the business. It seems crucial, then, to identify which capability arrangements are required for the success and the survival of startups. While firms have different arrangements of four innovation capabilities, namely development capability, operation capabillity, management capability and transaction capability, the issue is still under-researched for startups. That being said, this study aims to identify how innovation capabilities are arranged in startups. To accomplish that, an exploratory study with a qualitative approach was performed in Silicon Valley, in which 11 startups and 7 knowledgeable professionals related to the field were interviewed. It was found that startups do not have the four innovation capabilities, but need to develop them in order to transact goods/services in the market, allowing them to become firms. While the development capability and the transaction capability are the first developed by the startup (and also the most developed ones), the operation and management capabilities need to be developed once the business starts to grow. Learning by startups was also identified as relevant to the construction of their innovation capabilities, in which the rich ecosystem in Silicon Valley plays a key role. Although the importance of such an ecosystem, the selection and application of such external information into the construction of such capabilities is a task that can only be performed by the startup. Different arrangements of innovation capabilities were also identified, that might lead a startup to be sold, to turn into a firm or to follow a failure path. The main theoretical contribution was to evaluate, in a single study, not only technological capabilities, but also operational, management and transactional capabilities in startups, highlighting their importance to the startups’ sucess. A second contribution relies in identifying, through the lenses of the theory of the firm, that knowledge widely available in the ecosystem might be irrelevant to the startup if not properly applied in the development of capabilities. As a managerial contribution, the study highlights the need to evaluate the startup performance through metrics, without neglecting the importance of management. It is also suggested that governmental institutions should put a higher emphasis in demanding results from startups.

<p>Arbetsmarknaden i Silicon Valley karakteriseras av faktorer som hög personalomsättning, nätverkande och risktagande. Denna arbetsmarknad har vuxit fram på en begränsad geografisk yta och består idag ca 7 500 företag. Mjärdevi Science Park är en av de snabbast växande teknikparkerna i världen, varför vi anser att en jämförelse av de båda arbetsmarknaderna är intressant. Syftet är att med utgångspunkt från de faktorer som karakteriserar arbetsmarknaden i Silicon Valley, genomföra en jämförelse med arbetsmarknaden i Mjärdevi Science Park. Denna uppsats kommer inte att behandla vad det är som gör en teknikpark ekonomiskt framgångsrik. Uppsatsen är konstruerad efter ett så kallat systemsynsätt och bygger på en studie av sekundärmaterial om Silicon Valley samt på tio intervjuer med anställda och med representanter för Mjärdevi Science Park. Vi definierar olika faktorer som karakteriserar arbetsmarknaden i Silicon Valley utifrån ett systemsynsätt innehållande systemmiljö, infrastruktur och tre olika subsystem. Subsystemen genererar tillsammans en unik arbetsmarknad som i Silicon Valley kan sägas ha en intern karaktär och som präglas av rörlighet. I Mjärdevi kan dessa tre subsystem uttydas i mindre utsträckning. Vidare kan endast en del av arbetsmarknaden sägas ha en intern karaktär då området ännu är för litet.</p>

Arbetsmarknaden i Silicon Valley karakteriseras av faktorer som hög personalomsättning, nätverkande och risktagande. Denna arbetsmarknad har vuxit fram på en begränsad geografisk yta och består idag ca 7 500 företag. Mjärdevi Science Park är en av de snabbast växande teknikparkerna i världen, varför vi anser att en jämförelse av de båda arbetsmarknaderna är intressant. Syftet är att med utgångspunkt från de faktorer som karakteriserar arbetsmarknaden i Silicon Valley, genomföra en jämförelse med arbetsmarknaden i Mjärdevi Science Park. Denna uppsats kommer inte att behandla vad det är som gör en teknikpark ekonomiskt framgångsrik. Uppsatsen är konstruerad efter ett så kallat systemsynsätt och bygger på en studie av sekundärmaterial om Silicon Valley samt på tio intervjuer med anställda och med representanter för Mjärdevi Science Park. Vi definierar olika faktorer som karakteriserar arbetsmarknaden i Silicon Valley utifrån ett systemsynsätt innehållande systemmiljö, infrastruktur och tre olika subsystem. Subsystemen genererar tillsammans en unik arbetsmarknad som i Silicon Valley kan sägas ha en intern karaktär och som präglas av rörlighet. I Mjärdevi kan dessa tre subsystem uttydas i mindre utsträckning. Vidare kan endast en del av arbetsmarknaden sägas ha en intern karaktär då området ännu är för litet.

Calif., Univ., Dep. of Civil and Environment Engineering, Diss.--Stanford, 2003. / Kopie, ersch. im Verl. UMI, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Startups surgem com o intuito de explorar comercialmente uma ideia de potencial inovador. Para isso, necessitam de um conjunto de capacidades técnicas e de negócios, alocando recursos de modo eficiente para obter um produto com valor de mercado. Elas necessitam, portanto, tornar-se firmas e executar um modelo de negócios. Nesse processo, muitas startups fracassam, enquanto outras atingem um bom desempenho e conseguem realizar a oferta pública de ações (IPO), ou mesmo vender o negócio. Torna-se crucial, então, identificar quais são os conjuntos de capacidades necessários para o sucesso e a sobrevivência das startups. Enquanto firmas possuem diferentes arranjos de quatro capacidades de inovação, nomeadamente as capacidades de desenvolvimento, de operação, de gestão e de transação, o assunto ainda é pouco investigado em startups. Isso posto, este estudo tem por objetivo identificar como se configuram as capacidades de inovação em startups. Para alcançar esse objetivo foi realizado um estudo exploratório de abordagem qualitativa no Vale do Silício, no qual foram entrevistadas 11 startups de base tecnológica e 7 profissionais com conhecimentos na área. O estudo evidenciou que startups não possuem as quatro capacidades de inovação, mas necessitam desenvolvê-las a fim de comercializar um bem/serviço no mercado, tornandose firmas. Enquanto as capacidades de desenvolvimento e a de transação são as primeiras a serem desenvolvidas (sendo as mais desenvolvidas), as capacidades de operação e de gestão necessitam ser desenvolvidas à medida que o negócio se expande. O aprendizado por startups também foi identificado como relevante para a construção das capacidades de inovação, processo no qual o rico ecossistema do Vale do Silício desempenha um papel fundamental. Embora esse ecossistema seja importante, a seleção e aplicação dos conhecimentos externos na construção de tais capacidades é uma tarefa que cabe apenas à startup. Evidenciaram-se também os diferentes arranjos de capacidades que podem levar à venda, transformação em firma e fracasso das startups. A principal contribuição teórica do presente estudo foi avaliar, em um único estudo, não apenas capacidades de cunho tecnológico, mas também operacionais, gerenciais e transacionais em startups, destacando sua importância para o sucesso do negócio. Uma segunda contribuição está em evidenciar, por meio da perspectiva da firma, que conhecimentos amplamente disponíveis no ecossistema podem ser irrelevantes para a startup se não forem aplicados adequadamente no desenvolvimento das capacidades. Como contribuição gerencial evidencia-se a necessidade de avaliar o desempenho da startup por meio de métricas, não negligenciando a importância da gestão. Às instituições governamentais sugere-se uma maior ênfase na cobrança de resultados das startups. / Startups are created to commercially explore an ideia with innovative potential. To do so, they need a set of technical and business capabilities, efficiently allocating resources to obtain a product with market value. They need, in such an understanding, to become firms and execute a business model. While searching for such a business model, a high percentage of startups fail, while others perform well and reach the initial public offering (IPO), or even sell the business. It seems crucial, then, to identify which capability arrangements are required for the success and the survival of startups. While firms have different arrangements of four innovation capabilities, namely development capability, operation capabillity, management capability and transaction capability, the issue is still under-researched for startups. That being said, this study aims to identify how innovation capabilities are arranged in startups. To accomplish that, an exploratory study with a qualitative approach was performed in Silicon Valley, in which 11 startups and 7 knowledgeable professionals related to the field were interviewed. It was found that startups do not have the four innovation capabilities, but need to develop them in order to transact goods/services in the market, allowing them to become firms. While the development capability and the transaction capability are the first developed by the startup (and also the most developed ones), the operation and management capabilities need to be developed once the business starts to grow. Learning by startups was also identified as relevant to the construction of their innovation capabilities, in which the rich ecosystem in Silicon Valley plays a key role. Although the importance of such an ecosystem, the selection and application of such external information into the construction of such capabilities is a task that can only be performed by the startup. Different arrangements of innovation capabilities were also identified, that might lead a startup to be sold, to turn into a firm or to follow a failure path. The main theoretical contribution was to evaluate, in a single study, not only technological capabilities, but also operational, management and transactional capabilities in startups, highlighting their importance to the startups’ sucess. A second contribution relies in identifying, through the lenses of the theory of the firm, that knowledge widely available in the ecosystem might be irrelevant to the startup if not properly applied in the development of capabilities. As a managerial contribution, the study highlights the need to evaluate the startup performance through metrics, without neglecting the importance of management. It is also suggested that governmental institutions should put a higher emphasis in demanding results from startups.

Startups surgem com o intuito de explorar comercialmente uma ideia de potencial inovador. Para isso, necessitam de um conjunto de capacidades técnicas e de negócios, alocando recursos de modo eficiente para obter um produto com valor de mercado. Elas necessitam, portanto, tornar-se firmas e executar um modelo de negócios. Nesse processo, muitas startups fracassam, enquanto outras atingem um bom desempenho e conseguem realizar a oferta pública de ações (IPO), ou mesmo vender o negócio. Torna-se crucial, então, identificar quais são os conjuntos de capacidades necessários para o sucesso e a sobrevivência das startups. Enquanto firmas possuem diferentes arranjos de quatro capacidades de inovação, nomeadamente as capacidades de desenvolvimento, de operação, de gestão e de transação, o assunto ainda é pouco investigado em startups. Isso posto, este estudo tem por objetivo identificar como se configuram as capacidades de inovação em startups. Para alcançar esse objetivo foi realizado um estudo exploratório de abordagem qualitativa no Vale do Silício, no qual foram entrevistadas 11 startups de base tecnológica e 7 profissionais com conhecimentos na área. O estudo evidenciou que startups não possuem as quatro capacidades de inovação, mas necessitam desenvolvê-las a fim de comercializar um bem/serviço no mercado, tornandose firmas. Enquanto as capacidades de desenvolvimento e a de transação são as primeiras a serem desenvolvidas (sendo as mais desenvolvidas), as capacidades de operação e de gestão necessitam ser desenvolvidas à medida que o negócio se expande. O aprendizado por startups também foi identificado como relevante para a construção das capacidades de inovação, processo no qual o rico ecossistema do Vale do Silício desempenha um papel fundamental. Embora esse ecossistema seja importante, a seleção e aplicação dos conhecimentos externos na construção de tais capacidades é uma tarefa que cabe apenas à startup. Evidenciaram-se também os diferentes arranjos de capacidades que podem levar à venda, transformação em firma e fracasso das startups. A principal contribuição teórica do presente estudo foi avaliar, em um único estudo, não apenas capacidades de cunho tecnológico, mas também operacionais, gerenciais e transacionais em startups, destacando sua importância para o sucesso do negócio. Uma segunda contribuição está em evidenciar, por meio da perspectiva da firma, que conhecimentos amplamente disponíveis no ecossistema podem ser irrelevantes para a startup se não forem aplicados adequadamente no desenvolvimento das capacidades. Como contribuição gerencial evidencia-se a necessidade de avaliar o desempenho da startup por meio de métricas, não negligenciando a importância da gestão. Às instituições governamentais sugere-se uma maior ênfase na cobrança de resultados das startups. / Startups are created to commercially explore an ideia with innovative potential. To do so, they need a set of technical and business capabilities, efficiently allocating resources to obtain a product with market value. They need, in such an understanding, to become firms and execute a business model. While searching for such a business model, a high percentage of startups fail, while others perform well and reach the initial public offering (IPO), or even sell the business. It seems crucial, then, to identify which capability arrangements are required for the success and the survival of startups. While firms have different arrangements of four innovation capabilities, namely development capability, operation capabillity, management capability and transaction capability, the issue is still under-researched for startups. That being said, this study aims to identify how innovation capabilities are arranged in startups. To accomplish that, an exploratory study with a qualitative approach was performed in Silicon Valley, in which 11 startups and 7 knowledgeable professionals related to the field were interviewed. It was found that startups do not have the four innovation capabilities, but need to develop them in order to transact goods/services in the market, allowing them to become firms. While the development capability and the transaction capability are the first developed by the startup (and also the most developed ones), the operation and management capabilities need to be developed once the business starts to grow. Learning by startups was also identified as relevant to the construction of their innovation capabilities, in which the rich ecosystem in Silicon Valley plays a key role. Although the importance of such an ecosystem, the selection and application of such external information into the construction of such capabilities is a task that can only be performed by the startup. Different arrangements of innovation capabilities were also identified, that might lead a startup to be sold, to turn into a firm or to follow a failure path. The main theoretical contribution was to evaluate, in a single study, not only technological capabilities, but also operational, management and transactional capabilities in startups, highlighting their importance to the startups’ sucess. A second contribution relies in identifying, through the lenses of the theory of the firm, that knowledge widely available in the ecosystem might be irrelevant to the startup if not properly applied in the development of capabilities. As a managerial contribution, the study highlights the need to evaluate the startup performance through metrics, without neglecting the importance of management. It is also suggested that governmental institutions should put a higher emphasis in demanding results from startups.

Software start-ups make media headlines daily, suggesting that it may take only a garage and two engineering students to begin such companies, and that these same people will constitute the core of the executive team until these organizations become multinational giants. Despite these spontaneous starts, newly formed entrepreneurial ventures have many obstacles to overcome in their resource and cultural environments when establishing their practices. These obstacles vary depending on the local institutional contexts and can exert relevant pressures on how, where and why start-ups recruit and select certain candidates for their executive teams. Based on interviews conducted in Silicon Valley and Stockholm with 40 key hiring and intermediary actors – entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, board directors, CEOs and executive recruiters - the general aim of this work is that of disclosing step-by-step the process of executive recruitment and selection in start-ups. At the same time, this study seeks to analyze how institutional environments, through the actions of states, governments, universities, professional associations and society in general, shape start-up practices. Finally, the work aims at testing the explanatory power of institutional theories in sociology. The analysis of the interviews shows that different local institutional environments differently and crucially shape organizational actors' interests, roles and patterns of behavior when constructing their practices. Two distinct ideal-typical dominant logics surface among key actors in the two geographical contexts. On one side, Silicon Valley actors recruit and select their executives by using a business logic based on an efficiency rationale. On the other side, Stockholm actors make use of a personal logic based on a rationale of cultural fit when calculating which specific candidate better matches a certain executive position.

The academic society have in the recent past addressed the current ecosystem for new and existing business as a knowledge society. An era of globalisation and advanced technologies, where tacit knowledge has become an essential commodity for all firms in all industries looking to maintain a competitive level of productivity. Consequently, a substantial number of young companies are emerging worldwide with an exogenous approach of receiving knowledge as input in their process of being innovative. They leverage externalities rather than internal research and development. A suggested way of doing this is by utilising the natural advantages and values of an area, often remote from their country of residence. In this study, we suggest that this seeking of regions dense in innovative activity gives rise to young companies performing of international operations. We presume that business is becoming increasingly borderless, and assume the perspective of companies with innate international ambitions, born global firms. We suggest that the reason for early international activity varies from seeking new foreign markets to merely gaining from the input of outside expertise in offshore areas, dense in innovative activities. Following, we use the case of a local third-party association, namely the Nordic Innovation House in Silicon Valley to partly study why and how firms leverage values in the area and further the role of the association. This is done in the context of streamlining innovative and international activity. Findings verify that seeking knowledge as input in the process of innovation is a driving force to international activities. Allowing for interesting connections between previously separated concepts. Furthermore, we account for how a firm leverages the natural advantages and values of an spatially defined area. Finally, we confirm that being able to connect with the right people and gaining relevant knowledge is done with considerably more ease and to a significantly lower cost with the help of a third-party association. Consequently, the firms exhibited accelerated and more efficient processes of innovation and internationalisation.

Megatrends such as globalization, digitalization and the increased rate of technological   developmentare all example of aspects that directly affect and challenge companies. While it opens up for new business opportunities it also serves an increasingly competitive climate and puts tougher pressure on organizations. While several traditional management models are focused on internal aspects such as improving processes, reducing waste and removing non-value adding procedures it is argued in literature that having dynamic capabilities is key to succeed in a more rapidly changing environment. This means being able to not only handle daily business but also to sense, shape and seize opportunities and transform the organization accordingly. The Silicon Valley Model (SVM) is a holistic management model that aims at generating dynamic capabilities for firms in rapidly changing environments. This study is centered on identifying if the five principles that constitute the SVM are adopted in large multinational Swedish companies founded during the industrial era. The five principles are: 1. The Dynamic Firm 2. A People-Centric Approach 3. An Ambidextrous Organization 4. An Open Organization That Networks with Its Surroundings 5. A Systems Approach By interviewing 14 C-level employees in Telia, Lantmännen, Trelleborg and “Company A” we found that Telia and Lantmännen have implemented or have clear transformation initiatives that indicate that they are moving towards implementing all the management principles of the SVM. Trelleborg have or are moving towards all principles except an ambidextrous organization, which was not found during interviews. The fourth case company is anonymous and therefore called Company A. They  are operating in a more stable environment, which moves towards being more dynamic. They was seen implementing some management principles of the model, but did not have a holistic approach for it. The common denominator is that all companies come from having established satisfyingly efficient operational cores and profitability levels, before shifting focus towards having a growth and innovation focus. / Megatrender som globalisering, digitalisering och den ökade takten på teknologisk utveckling är allaaspekter som direkt påverkar och utmanar företag. Medan det öppnar upp för nya affärsmöjligheter  så bidrar det också till ökad konkurrens och större press på företags organisationer. Medan flera traditionella ledningsmodeller är fokuserade på interna aspekter såsom att förbättra processer, minska slöseri och ta bort icke värde-adderande processer, hävdas dynamiska förmågor vara en nyckel till att lyckas i en mer snabbrörlig omgivning. Detta innebär att man inte bara hanterar sin dagliga verksamhet utan också känner av och tar till vara på möjligheter samt förändrar sin organisation i enlighet med dessa. Silicon Valley Modellen (SVM) är en holistisk företagsledningsmodell som ämnar generera dynamiska förmågor för företag i snabbrörliga omgivningar, med syfte att skapa innovation och tillväxt. Den här studien är centrerad kring att identifiera om de fem principer som utgör SVM är anammade i stora multinationella svenska företag som är grundade under den industriella eran. De fem principerna är: 1. Den Dynamiska Firman 2. Individen i Centrum 3. Både-och-Organisation 4. Öppenhet och Nätverkande med Omvärlden 5. Systemansats Genom 14 C-level intervjuer på Telia, Lantmännen, Trelleborg och “Company A” drogs slutsatsen  att Telia och Lantmännen har implementerat eller har klara transformationsinitiativ som indikerar på att de rör sig mot att implementera hela SVM. Trelleborg rör sig mot att täcka hela, förutom både-och- organisation som inte hittades under intervjuerna. Det fjärde företaget, anonymt kallat Company A, verkar i en mer stabil tillverkningsindustri men rör sig mot en mer rörlig omgivning. De sågs implementera några principer från modellen, men ansågs inte ha ett holistiskt närmande till SVM. Den gemensamma nämnaren är att de fyra företagen kommer från att ha etablerat tillfredställande effektiva kärnverksamheter och lönsamhetsnivåer innan de skiftat fokus mot tillväxt och innovation.

This paper seeks to understand the role of proximity to Silicon Valley and the Silicon Valley network effect on venture success. Despite the wealth of literature on the role and importance of geographic proximity in the venture capital process, no studies have specifically examined the impact of geographic proximity to Silicon Valley on venture success. I build my study on existing literature but deviate from past research in the following ways: first, I narrow the research question to the relationship between geographic proximity to Silicon Valley and successful exit; second, I consider success from the perspective of the venture rather than the venture-backing firm; third, I employ a logistical model as well as a linear probability model; fourth I control for endogeneity by isolating first rounds; lastly, I exclude syndicated deals, focusing on 1:1 venture-backing firm-to-venture deals. I use VenureXpert data for Silicon Valley-backed firms located both in and outside Silicon Valley to test hypotheses regarding geographic proximity. The results are significant and suggest that venture location in Silicon Valley is associated with greater venture success. Based on the results, it is clear that the impact of the Silicon Valley network effect is statistically meaningful and should encourage ventures to continue to strategically locate themselves in Silicon Valley.