<p>Historically the research of International Business and the internationalisation of companies have been concentrated to large, mature companies with extensive resources to deploy in new markets. Since the 90’s a big field of research has though been on so called born globals, or international new ventures. In this thesis I will take up where this research is today and I will deal with the issue of new entrepreneurial ventures that internationalise from a very early stage of their existence From the theory five factors are retracted; 1) The Entrepreneur; 2) Identified Opportunities; 3) Entry/ Establishing mode; 4) Deployed Resources and 5) Local Challenges and from this the theoretical model is created. The following empirical study is made on Swedish entrepreneurs that have established in China during the last decade and the model seeks to answer why and how the entrepreneur established in China. The model is constructed to be usable for research on entrepreneurs from any market entering any other market. This specific study on Swedish entrepreneur in China merely fills the function of illustrating the use of the model, as the sample is too small to generalize.</p>

Historically the research of International Business and the internationalisation of companies have been concentrated to large, mature companies with extensive resources to deploy in new markets. Since the 90’s a big field of research has though been on so called born globals, or international new ventures. In this thesis I will take up where this research is today and I will deal with the issue of new entrepreneurial ventures that internationalise from a very early stage of their existence From the theory five factors are retracted; 1) The Entrepreneur; 2) Identified Opportunities; 3) Entry/ Establishing mode; 4) Deployed Resources and 5) Local Challenges and from this the theoretical model is created. The following empirical study is made on Swedish entrepreneurs that have established in China during the last decade and the model seeks to answer why and how the entrepreneur established in China. The model is constructed to be usable for research on entrepreneurs from any market entering any other market. This specific study on Swedish entrepreneur in China merely fills the function of illustrating the use of the model, as the sample is too small to generalize.

The practical execution of an entrepreneurial process for technology-driven ventures in emerging markets can be likened to a maze - a dynamically complex process with many navigational contingencies. While the overall navigational path may appear straightforward conceptually, the actual execution path inherently becomes fraught with sub-optimal turns and apparent dead-end trails as an entrepreneur dynamically confronts many challenges. The navigational path for effectively sequencing events can be confounding, especially since event outcomes are highly contingent upon timing as well as execution of the appropriate events; seemingly 'right' actions can be applied at the 'wrong' time in the process with the corresponding result being an undesired outcome. Combining practical experience with academic research, this paper addresses the entrepreneurial process maze by presenting the authors' phased-structure process model for proactively sequencing effective actions in entrepreneurial ventures. Fundamental to this process model is a 'tactician' phase wherein a seven-step prescription is introduced to help entrepreneurs navigate the maze and dynamically sequence the 'right actions' at the 'right time' for commercialising innovations. Both the phased-structure process model and its seven-step prescription for the tactician provide practical guidance for technology-driven entrepreneurial ventures.

The impact that the small business sector has on the economy is well known and has been extensively studied. In 2008, 46% of the Swedish workforce in the private sector were employed by small businesses, the small businesses where also accountable for 42% of GDP, these are just some arguments in behalf of the impact that they have on the Swedish economy. Reviewing theories of entrepreneurship this paper asks if maybe a disproportionate part of the impact dealt by the small business sector comes from the entrepreneurial ventures that operate within that same sector. Because small businesses and entrepreneurial ventures in the small business sector find themselves in an overlap they are often confused with each other. Many studies fail to differentiate between these to organizational structures and therefore the impact on the economy dealt by entrepreneurial ventures is joined with the impact that is dealt by small businesses. With a qualitative approach, the use of two case studies and discussing theories developed by scholars in the field, this paper identifies an entrepreneurial venture that operates within the small business sector and compares it to an ordinary non-entrepreneurial small business that operates within that same sector. With the use of further theories it also identifies which of the two organisations that has the greatest impact on economic development. The results lead to the conclusion that a differentiation between entrepreneurial ventures and ordinary small businesses needs do be done so that political efforts, academic research and literature in the field can be reallocated towards entrepreneurial ventures and the field of entrepreneurship as a whole. The paper also gives suggestions for further research with the use of a quantitative approach and greater sample size so that results can be generalized.

The recently coined term, Impact Startup, and its rising popularity on the global scene proves its importance as a subject of research. As startups are considered key players in changing the status quo and breaking barriers, they are considered crucial in overcoming some of the most evident issues of today. Utilizing an approach based on previously validated content analysis methods, this study aims to shine a light on the relatively unexplored topic by identifying the key qualities of Impact Startups. Looking into how these organizations communicate about themselves and comparing the findings with the compiled theoretical definition of Impact Startups, we can evaluate the alignment of theory with practice and gain a deeper understanding of the trending phenomenon. Finding that Impact Startups should effectively change the social and/or environmental status quo we conclude that they should be categorized as, Social Impact Startups, Environmental Startups, and Total Impact Startups. Further results of this investigation highlight the importance of distinguishing between Mature Impact Organizations and Impact Startups. This study contributes extensively to the understanding we have of Impact Startups and lays the foundation for further research and establishing legitimate qualifications of Impact.