A case study of a start-up company was performed. The study analysed the New Product Development Process at the start-up. The start-up under investigation was Zyray Wireless, a start-up in San Diego California. Zyray makes processors for the next generation of mobile phones. The research done with the particular start-up company will identify what the differences are between generally accepted best practise methods and the best practise methods implemented by a particular start-up company. The study will therefore aim to answer the following questions. How does the product development process change over the life cycle of the company? How do the best practise processes implemented in the industry differ from those implemented during the life cycle of the company under investigation. Why does the company implement best practise processes at a specific time in its life cycle and not during other times? What percentage of best practise processes are accepted and implemented by the company, why were they chosen and why were others not. Multiple types of evidence were used including participant observations, documentation and surveys. The survey taken at Zyray was compared with the industry averages. Results were also obtained at three different points in time (Concept/Seed, Product Development and Market phases). By comparing these results with the industry results it was possible to gauge the differences between the industry and Zyray Wireless in general. Zyray Wireless scored above the industry average in the following categories: continuous quality improvement, product success, project success, cycle time improvement, customer involvement questions, project selection, product strategy questions, technological leadership and product goal questions. The best practises for metrics, human resource development, documentation and change control implemented by Zyray Wireless scored at or below the industry average. The best practise results showed that the start-up focused more on strategy and engineering and less on process control. The study revealed the following important points: 1. In the initial phases the start-up’s customers were the venture funds. 2. The project selection process was informal but driven by economic criteria. 3. The company discovered that it had to choose a product strategy early on and then develop the product according to this strategy. 4. Marketing created the design concept but it also influenced the future of the company because it dictated the company’s product strategy. 5. The company followed a technology follower strategy. The technological competency was of such a high standard that a product was developed after very few iterations. 6. The start-up showed that internal documentation was limited but that external documentation to clients and manufacturers had to be of a high standard. 7. The company showed that change control was limited to the engineering function. 8. The start-up showed that over-achieving on goals set by itself and investors was of critical importance. 9. The start-up showed that process control was kept to a minimum and that it could react very quickly to changing situations. 10. The start-up showed that the establishment of a strong team is of critical importance to the success of the company. / Dissertation (MSc Technology Management)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM) / unrestricted

The present thesis focuses on founding and evolution of information technology startups. Special attention is given to the personality of the founder and the options of financing a startup in the Czech Republic. A survey among the students of the University of Economics, Prague regarding the general awareness of the issues related to the founding of a startup and the main obstacles to it is an integral part of the thesis. The main contribution of the thesis is a method for building up the IT startups, which may serve as a hand-book for potential future founders. As a secondary contribution, this thesis serves as a compact overview of the issues related to startups, especially to the person of the founder and financing possibilities in the Czech Republic.

The aim of the thesis is to find out whether it is possible to succeed on a design market with a new brand and with minimal financial resources. A Czech design startup Czevitrum is considered as model company in this situation. I focus on the development of Czevitrum's brand during the past two years mapping the brand's strategy on foreign markets and analyzing the product and its marketing communication. Based on the findings, I propose next steps for Czevitrum's brand building.

The theory of this thesis focuses on particulars of multi-sided platform businesses with special emphasis put on early stage start-ups. The goal is to capture crucial findings and fuse them together to point out specifics which apply only for start-ups that are developed in form of multi-sided platform business. This thesis should provide guidance to all entrepreneurs considering such new business formations. It aims at showing them the most important points leading to positive value creation in multi-sided platform businesses. Specifically, it explains the strategic points hidden behind pricing and network effects utilization. At the same time it depicts what are the unnecessary distractions which just destroy attention and consume time and effort. Consequently, these findings are tested on practical example, where real start-up is modelled using this theoretical framework. Such real application points out strong and weak points. Consequently, the optimal framework is derived based on prior findings. The main suggestions point out what should be examined further by the theory and where the research captured enough knowledge.

The diploma thesis deals with a strategic situation analysis of online start-up called Instant Feedback s.r.o. and brings information to strategy planning process of online start-ups in general. The thesis examines the specifics of this process and applies them accordingly in the strategic situation analysis. The outcome of the thesis is an overview of strategy development process by online start-ups mainly useful for young entrepreneurs in online environment.

This dissertation thesis concentrates on Venture Capital in the form of Business Angel investments in innovative companies in the Czech Republic. Primarily, the general knowledge of the Business Angel investments among entrepreneurs and students, the utilization rate of angel investments and the terms of cooperation between investors and entrepreneurs were analyzed. The main objective of this work is to design a methodological procedure of optimal cooperation between Business Angels and innovative entrepreneurs that has had a positive impact on the prosperity of all stakeholders. The theoretical framework summarizes the importance of Venture Capital as a source of funding new and innovative technology companies. Moreover, it focuses on realized research concerning angel investment in the USA and Great Britain. The primary research was realized in the form of interviews with investors and entrepreneurs, who had raised capital from Business Angels. As well, was realized five year long research among the students of universities all over the Czech Republic via questionnaire. Based on the analysis of secondary research and results from qualitative and quantitative research, were designed a normative model, descriptive model and methodology of cooperation between Business Angels and entrepreneurs. The proposed models and methodology respect the international practice, and the outputs have been tailored to the Czech environment as well.

Ingeniero Civil Industrial / El objetivo de este estudio, es el desarrollo de un plan de negocio para la empresa Reservo.cl, la que inicia actividades en Febrero del 2014, contando con 35 clientes al inicio de este estudio. La empresa, ofrece un software online con herramientas financieras y administrativas, que permiten mejorar el control de gestión a los dueños de los centros de estética y belleza. El proyecto, se enmarca en una industria que ha mostrado un crecimiento constante del 7% anual en los últimos 5 años, presentando una oportunidad para apoyar a aquellas empresas, que ante este crecimiento, se les hace necesario optimizar la gestión de su negocio. Las metodologías aplicadas para el desarrollo del estudio son: Running Lean, la cual se utiliza como herramienta de construcción y validación del modelo de negocios; Design Thinking y Lean Startup, empleadas de manera conceptual, entregando un marco para guiar el diseño del servicio. El primer paso del estudio, propone una validación a esta necesidad, para lo cual se utilizó la metodología Lean Canvas, la que detectó, en los empresarios del rubro, el deseo de tener una herramienta que los ayude a cumplir y mejorar sus procesos. Con las metodologías mencionadas, se realizaron diferentes pruebas, las cuales tienen como objetivo validar las hipótesis planteadas, a través de experimentos cualitativos, que hacen posible desarrollar el mínimo producto viable, elaborado de los aprendizajes de las entrevistas. Luego, se desarrollaron pruebas cuantitativas con el prototipo de la solución, que fue probado por los potenciales clientes, obteniendo 18 nuevos centros en un período de 3 meses, con un ingreso adicional de $720.000 CLP mensuales. El análisis financiero se realiza a través de un flujo de caja a 3 años, con una tasa de descuento del 7%, la que da como resultado un VAN de $ 63.946.000 CLP con una inversión del primer año de $4.554.000 CLP y utilidades al tercer año por sobre los $33.994.000 CLP, esto se logra alcanzando menos del 10% del mercado de la Región Metropolitana. Con esta información, se logra desarrollar el plan de recursos humanos y en conjunto con las conclusiones anteriores, se define el modelo de negocios y se especifican los procesos. Finalmente, el estudio muestra que el proyecto es rentable en el mediano plazo, modificando ciertas características iniciales del proyecto, el cual a Febrero del 2016, cuenta con 68 clientes e ingresos mensuales de $2.433.727.

A presente dissertação faz um estudo dos tipos de inovação promovidos por 11 empresas apoiadas pelo programa PIPE da FAPESP. Seu objetivo é descrever os tipos de inovação promovidos pelas empresas em seus primeiros dez anos de existência. Pretendeu-se aqui responder à pergunta \"Que tipo(s) de inovação as empresas de sucesso paulistas, intensivas em conhecimento, promovem nos dez primeiros anos de suas existências?\". Para tanto, o autor utilizou, em um primeiro nível de classificação, a tipologia do Manual de Oslo (2005), que estabelece e denomina a inovação como a) em produto b) em processo c) em marketing d) organizacional. Em um segundo nível de classificação, este só para a inovação em produto, o autor utilizou a tipologia de Garcia e Calantone (2002), que estabelece e denomina a inovação em produto como a) incremental b) realmente nova c) radical. Para desenvolver a pesquisa, qualitativa, de perfil exploratório-descritivo, o autor enviou email convite a 603 empresas beneficiárias de apoio do programa PIPE da FAPESP, apoio este obtido entre maio de 2002 e dezembro de 2009. Com as informações fornecidas pelos respondentes, denominadas ações empreendedoriais, o autor preencheu a parte inicial do instrumento de pesquisa, concluindo assim a primeira etapa do trabalho. A segunda etapa constituiu-se de entrevista, quando as ações empreendedoriais descritas pelos respondentes foram classificadas por tipo de inovação. Os resultados obtidos descrevem os tipos de inovações promovidos pelas empresas constantes da amostra em seus dez primeiros anos de existência. / The present dissertation studies the innovations promoted by 11 companies supported by the program PIPE of FAPESP. It aims at describing the types of innovations promoted by those companies in their first ten years of existence. One intended to answer the question \"What types of innovation successful companies of São Paulo state promoted in their first ten years of existence?\" At the first level, the typology of Oslo\'s Manual (2005) was used to classify the innovations in product, process, marketing and organizational. At the second level, this one only for products, the typology of Garcia e Calantone (2002) was used to classify the innovations in radical, really new and incremental. In order to develop this study, the author contacted companies supported by the program PIPE of FAPESP. Eleven companies were interviewed. The results do describe the type of innovations promoted by the companies in their first ten years of existence.

Purpose: This study aims to explore the CSR strategies in startup companies. To achieve this, this research paper, therefore, strives to first understand what drives startups to adopt socially responsible activities, gauging the level of commitment to CSR and understanding how startup companies implement soMethodology: This research was conducted using a qualitative research approach using a multiple case approach. The multiple case study focused on Swedish startups. Primary data was used through semi-structured interviews and it was complemented by secondary data extracted from the company's websites.Findings: Startup companies are mainly driven to engage in CSR through a strategic motive but influenced by the moralistic motive that has mainly contributed to the startup companies to be proactive and accommodative in their CSR. And these startups approach CSR leads to their implementation of CSR integrated into their business model.Conclusion: This study stresses the importance of integrating CSR to the strategy of the companies especially in Startup companies where most think CSR is costly and not possible for these starting up ventures. Strategic CSR could be of benefit for competitive advantage and most importantly, the growth and survival of startup companies. Strategic CSR is a possibility for startup companies!

Even the best developed policies can and do fail, without attaining their desired outcomes. Many countries have developed small business policies directed at supporting and creating a favourable environment for cultivating small business and entrepreneurship. Policies specifically aimed at entrepreneurship are less prominent but also growing (Lundström & Stevenson, 2005:53; United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 2012:1). The existence of entrepreneurship policies in developing nations continues to be rare, despite the belief that entrepreneurship can spur economic growth and employment. The literature review introduced various important elements within the field of small business and entrepreneurship and, specifically, in the policy domain. The context of policy monitoring and evaluation was also addressed. Furthermore, the literature revealed clear differences between small business and entrepreneurial ventures which were not genuinely considered when small business support was initiated in South Africa with the introduction of the National Small Business Act (No. 102 of 1996) as amended. Only a small business was defined by the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) and not an entrepreneurial venture (dti, 2003:8). At present, both start-up and established businesses are operating in South Africa with the possibility of either growing into a small business or entrepreneurial venture. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the national small business policy of South Africa and to determine its shortcomings. An entrepreneurship policy was identified as a possible alternative to address the gaps left by the small business policy. A content analysis of entrepreneurship and small business policies highlighted that the main differences between these two policies are the focus on individuals versus business ventures; pre-start-up versus post-start-up support; and a broad versus narrow definition of which institutional structures constitute the support environment. In this research, constructs drawn from the literature study were used to formulate the conceptual framework, research questions and hypotheses. Quantifiable data were obtained from three groups of respondents – namely, start-up business owners, established business owners and government officials involved in small business development and entrepreneurship. The sample consisted of 23 government officials and 340 start-up and established business owners from five metropolitan municipalities in the Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape provinces of South Africa. The empirical research was undertaken between 01 November 2011 and 30 April 2012. The One-Way ANOVA Test, Kruskal-Wallis One-Way ANOVA Test, Friedman Two-Way ANOVA Test, Mann-Whitney U Test and Chi-square Test were executed to present the statistical significant differences between the three groups of respondents. The statistical tests were also executed to illustrate the statistical significant differences within the different groups as well as within different metropolitan municipalities in selected provinces. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was conducted to determine whether there was a significant relationship between the different small business policy evaluation factors and the needs factors of business owners. The findings of this empirical study prove that the small business policy does not address the needs of both start-up and established business owners which may support their development into small business and entrepreneurial ventures. Even though there is a mismatch between the supply and demand of support services, this study did not find evidence to support the need for an entrepreneurship policy in South Africa to supplement the existing small business policy. Businesses will continue to operate irrespective of an additional policy. The results of the study can be utilised by government to formulate and design adequate policies that focus on the specific needs of start-up and established business owners. The contribution of this study to the body of knowledge, and the possible limitations of the study, are discussed. Areas of future research are outlined and various recommendations are made to guide current and prospective small business and entrepreneurship policy makers regarding the choice of policy instruments, monitoring and evaluation. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the importance and value of policies to business owners and entrepreneurs that can effectively assist business venture survival, growth and success. / Thesis (DCom)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Business Management / DCom / Unrestricted