Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-184).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Indiana University of Pennsylvania. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Education Policy, 2008. / Dissertation committee: Gary Sykes, Barbara Schneider, Peter Youngs, Sandra Schneider, and Larry Schweinhart--From acknowledgments. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Aug. 19, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 151-158). Also issued in print.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2009. / Directed by Judith Niemeyer; submitted to the Dept. of Specialized Education Services. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Jun. 7, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 202-213).

Diss. Wirtsch.-wiss. St. Gallen, 2005 ; Nr. 3075. / Buchhandelsausgabe ist Schriftenreihe Logistik der Kühne-Stiftung, Band 8. Literaturverz.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:44:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T13:56:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 06869.pdf: 6244553 bytes, checksum: e1b373e9de3f0d1846ccc32627f81959 (MD5) / Dissertacao (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN/CNEN-SP

Background: Although leadership is a topic which has been extensively researched, there is limited literature concerning co-leadership, especially in connection to start-ups. Moreover, as those who are co-leaders in start-ups often also are co-founders and co-owners, it is vital that their co-leadership dynamic is functional as a way of staying in business. Co-leadership is described as a leadership form which has become more commonly used, which further adds urgency of exploring the topic of co-leadership dynamics, and how to make it functional. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore how a functional co-leadership dynamic can be created between leaders who are simultaneously founders and owners of a start-up. Method: This is a qualitative study, for which is used semi-structured interviews to collect data from 11 co-leaders in 10 companies. The transcribed interviews have been used together with secondary data to point out specific elements that have shown to be important for a functional co-leadership dynamic. Both the themes of co-leadership dynamics and the context of entrepreneurship, foundership and ownership were used to find and highlight these elements. The elements have been discussed in the Analysis and are thereafter presented in a model. Conclusion: Six elements have been pointed out as important for a functional co-leadership dynamic: Collaborative Attitude, Shared Values & Vision, Open & Continuous Communication, Synergy, Learning & Personal Growth, and Trust. These elements are interrelated, and Collaborative Attitude, Shared Values & Vision, Synergy and Trust are also connected to the contextual factors.

The idea behind this thesis was born from the success of the so-called unicorn companies originating from Stockholm. Unicorn companies are highly successful tech-startups which reached an evaluation of 1 billion USD while remaining private companies. This has created international attention to Stockholm, and the number of tech startups in the city has increased dramatically. The purpose of this thesis is to achieve a deeper understanding of how tech-startups in Stockholm design their internationalization strategy. To do this, comprehensive information regarding the background of this situation was given, which was then used to form the research questions. To answer them, research regarding internationalization, entrepreneurial strategies and business networks and relations were collected. The theories were then formulated into a conceptual synthesis. To answer our research questions, qualitative data was gathered through four semi-structured interviews with tech-startups operating in Stockholm. The abductive research approach was found to be the most useful approach for our research design. The analysis chapter was built upon the structure of our theories and analyzed through the lens of our conceptual synthesis. Formulating a discussion on the similarities between the theories and the empirical findings as well as unforeseen differences.   Concluding our analysis of the gathered empirical data, we found an implication that there was a connection between the environment, the company and the strategy that they choose in order to internationalize, and that all factors impact each other. Following the analysis, the theoretical synthesis was adjusted based on the gathered data and restructured into a conceptual framework. This thesis stresses the importance of networks in entrepreneurial businesses and showcases why this is. It is of interest to entrepreneurs wishing to establish their own companies in Stockholm, but can also be of interest to entrepreneurs at large concerning their presence in tech-hubs.

[pt] O financiamento de empresas emergentes de base tecnológica vem merecendo grande atenção, tanto por parte da comunidade de investidores quanto dos agentes públicos interessados nos ganhos econômicos e sociais atribuídos a tais empresas. A realização de tais ganhos depende, entretanto, de conhecimentos e habilidades sofisticados para lidar com diversos fatores de risco associados a tais empresas, à sua tecnologia e à natureza das oportunidades que perseguem. A extensão do risco envolvido e a complexidade dos instrumentos necessários para fazer frente a tais riscos fizeram reconhecer esse tipo de financiamento como uma classe distinta de investimento, denominada capital de risco. Como tal, a atividade de capital de risco teve seu início reconhecido a partir de 1930, com investimentos feitos por algumas famílias abastadas americanas. A década seguinte registra o surgimento da primeira empresa de capital de risco, que vem a estabelecer o paradigma de operação de uma indústria que, nos Estados Unidos, investe cerca de uma centena de bilhões de dólares por ano - a Indústria de Fundos de Capital de Risco que profissionaliza todo o ciclo de capital de risco, desde a captação de recursos junto aos investidores, a aplicação em empresas emergentes e, finalmente, o desinvestimento e a distribuição dos resultados aos investidores. No Brasil, essa indústria começou a se estruturar a partir da Instrução CVM 209, de 1994, que regulamentou esses fundos sob a denominação de Fundos Mútuos de Investimento em Empresas Emergentes. Estimativas preliminares sugerem que essa indústria movimentou, em 2000, cerca de US$ 1 bilhão. Uma das grandes barreiras ao desenvolvimento dessa indústria é a aquisição do conhecimento técnico sobre a gestão e avaliação de fundos nos quais os ativos adquiridos (papéis de empresas emergentes) não são negociados em bolsa. O conhecimento existente é, em boa parte, de natureza proprietária e é tratado como segredo industrial. Este trabalho, de natureza exploratória, reflete uma incursão no estudo de algoritmos de avaliação de fundos de capital de risco, introduzindo aperfeiçoamentos em modelos de avaliação existentes. Modelos de avaliação tradicionais, como o Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) utilizam o retorno histórico desta modalidade de investimentos na tentativa de estimar a performance do fundo. O objetivo desta dissertação é adaptar o modelo de performance de fundos desenvolvido pelo MIF de forma a possibilitar uma análise de risco além do retorno esperado. Esta análise de risco será realizada através da avaliação de cada empresa investida pelo fundo. Assim, através da simulação do valor terminal destas empresas, será possível obter uma distribuição de retorno para cada investidor a partir do capital aportado no fundo. Tal instrumento será de grande valia tanto na seleção de investimentos (permitindo que os investimentos sejam selecionados de acordo com o nível de exposição que o gestor deseja assumir), quanto no gerenciamento dos investimentos (permitindo que sejam tomadas decisões que maximizem o retorno esperado para os investidores). / [en] The financing of technology based start up companies is deserving great attention, not only from of the investors' community but also from public agents, due to the economical and social earnings attributed to such companies. These accomplishments depends, however, on knowledge and sophisticated abilities to work with risk factors associated to such companies, related to their technology level and to the nature of the opportunities pursued. The extension of the risks involved and the complexity of the necessary instruments to deal with them lead to a recognition of this type of financing as a distinct investment, namely venture capital. Venture capital has its beginning in 1930, with investments made by a few wealthy American families. The following decade records the appearance of the first venture capital company, which comes to establish the operation paradigm of an industry. In the United States, this industry invests about a hundred of billion of dollars a year and perform the whole venture capital cycle: from Fundraising with the investors, to funding of start up companies and, finally, the harvesting and the distribution of results to the investors. In Brazil, this industry began to be structured following the Instruction CVM 209, (1994), which regulates funds denominated Mutual Investment Fund in Emergent Companies. Estimates suggest that in 2000, it was a US$ 1 billion dollar industry. One of the greatest barriers to the development of this industry is the acquisition of the technical knowledge on the management and evaluation of Funds that acquires assets non negotiable in the stock markets. The existing knowledge is, to a large extent, of private nature and treated as industrial secret. This work, of exploratory nature, is an incursion in the study of evaluation algorithms of venture capital funds, proposing improvements in existing evaluation models. Traditional evaluation models, like that of the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) use the historical return of this kind of investments in an attempt to estimate the performance of the fund. The objective of this dissertation is to modify the model of Fund performance developed by MIF to make possible a risk analysis beyond the expected return. This risk analysis will be accomplished by the evaluation of each company invested by the Fund. By simulating the terminal value of these companies, it will be possible to obtain a return distribution for each investor starting from the capital contributed to the fund. Such an instrument will be of great value not only in the selection of investments (allowing the investments to be selected in agreement with the exposure level that the manager wishes to assume), but also in the management of these discrete investments (allowing that are made decisions that maximize the expected return for the investors). / [es] El financiamiento de empresas emergentes de base tecnológica ha merecido una gran atención por parte de la comunidad de inversionistas y de los agentes públicos interesados en las ganancias económicas y sociales de esas empresas. La obtención de tales ganancias depende de conocimientos y habilidades sofisticados para evaluar los diversos factores de riesgo de dichas empresas, de su tecnología y de la naturaleza de las oportunidades que persiguen. La extensión del riesgo y la complejidad de los instrumentos necesarios para enfrentar los riesgos, han llevado a reconocer que este tipo de financiamiento constiuye una clase diferente de inversión, denominada capital de riesgo. La actividad de capital de riesgo se inició (reconocidamente) a partir de 1930, con inversiones realizadas por algunas familias americanas adineradas. En la década siguiente surge la primera empresa de capital de riesgo, y con ello se establece el paradigma de operación de una industria que, en los Estados Unidos, invierte cerca de una centena de miles de millones de dólares por año - la Industria de Fondos de Capital de Riesgo que profisionaliza todo el ciclo de capital de riesgo, desde la captación de recursos, la aplicación en empresas emergentes y, finalmente, la desinversión y la distribución de los resultados a los inversionistas. En Brasil, esa industria comenzó a extructurarse a partir de la Instrucción CVM 209, de 1994, que creó el reglamento de esos fondos bajo la denominación de Fondos Mutuos de Inversión en Empresas Emergentes. Estimativas preliminares indican que esa industria movimentó, en 2000, cerca de US$ 1000 millones. Una de las grandes barreras para el desarrollo de esta industria es la adquisición del conocimiento técnico sobre gestión y evaluación de fondos en los cuales los activos adquiridos (papeles de empresas emergentes) no son negociados en la bolsa. El conocimiento que existe es, en buena parte, de naturaleza proprietaria y es tratado como secreto industrial. Este trabajo, de naturaleza exploratoria, refleja una incursión en el estudio de algoritmos de evaluación de fondos de capital de riesgo e introduce algunas mejorías en modelos de evaluación existentes. Los modelos de evaluación tradicionales, como el Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) utilizan el retorno histórico de esta modalidad de inversiones para estimar la performance del fondo. El objetivo de esta disertación es adaptar el modelo de performance de fondos desarrollado por el MIF de modo tal que, además del retorno esperado, sea posible un análisis de riesgo. Este análisis de riesgo será realizado a través de la evaluación de cada empresa en las que el fondo invirtió. Así, a través de la simulación del valor terminal de estas empresas, será posible obtener una distribuición de retorno para cada inversionista a partir del capital que aportó al fondo. Este instrumento será de gran valor en la selección de inversiones (pués permitirá que las inversiones sean seleccionadas de acuerdo con el nível de exposición que el gestor desea asumir), y en la gerencia de las inversiones (permitiendo que sean tomadas decisiones que maximizen el retorno esperado para los inversionistas).

Switzerland has, despite being a rather small country, a big start-up scene which develops rapidly and puts forth many entrepreneurs. Currently, it is certain that any opportunity for competitive advantage must be exploited and emerging markets like India prove to be full of them. This research aims to investigate the cultural and institutional problems Swiss start-ups faced and how they overcame them when internationalising to India, using a qualitative research approach. Relevant theories regarding the topic were gathered and collated in a deductive manner with the empirical findings of five interviews conducted with Swiss Born Global start-ups, which internationalised either down- or upstream activities of their value chain to India. The findings show that institutional problems are largely dependent on the industry a company is working in. Cultural problems on the other hand occur in a more general manner and entrepreneurs internationalising to this market should be aware of the cultural differences to facilitate their internationalisation process. Further findings display the importance of an own network in the country and the indispensability of partners that help the companies navigate the Indian space.