Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001.

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Also available in print.

Owing to the lack of information and guidelines currently available for technology entrepreneurs, establishing Fintech start-ups in South Africa is challenging. The current literature on Fintech does not provide information highlighting ways in which technology entrepreneurs can establish and sustain Fintech start-ups, nor does it discuss the relevant skills required or the potential entry barriers for Fintech start-ups in the South African context. The purpose of this research is to investigate the factors that make Fintech startups successful, highlight the barriers faced by Fintech startups, elaborate on the skills required, and create a conceptual framework based on the research, that will guide technology entrepreneurs towards successful venture creation. A qualitative research methodology was used in this study using a semi-structured interview with open-ended questions as a research instrument. Financial Capital, Adherence to Regulation and Customer Centric Platform Development were some of the key findings related to establishing and sustaining Fintech start-ups in South Africa. Costly and scarce skilled resources and regulation barriers were some of the contributors to the failure of Fintech start-ups in South Africa. The government needs to assist where they can from a regulation perspective and provide more support to Fintech start-ups. Tax rebates for Fintech start-ups would also help these start-ups survive in South Africa. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2021. / Informatics / MCom / Unrestricted

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Waikato, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 288-323)

The innovation ecosystem’s online presence continues to grow with the emergence and maturation of ICT-based platforms. With these new channels, a diversity of actors, including firms, scientists, universities, media entities, and individuals, interact to satisfy their information needs and to access and mobilize network-based resources. This research is among a growing number of social science studies examining the advent of social media and its influence on the innovation process, asking, “How do different types of actors use social media to form network linkages, and what kinds of innovative outcomes will result?” To study this complex network activity, I turn to Twitter, the popular microblogging service, and focus on the case of graphene, a novel nanotechnology material consisting of a two-dimensional sheet of carbon atoms. Twitter is one of the world’s most often-used social networks, boasting over 500 million users (200+ million active). Graphene, on the other hand, is a relatively well-bounded area of scientific inquiry with ongoing, concurrent scientific and commercialization activity. The primary sample dataset derives from 34 graphene firms’ friend and followers relationships captured in early 2014. Nine interview transcripts supply qualitative data. The results show that network formation on Twitter is not random and that certain actor relationships predict following linkages. A series of network visualizations show that users agglomerate in communities; these communities exhibit greater density than the larger ecosystem network and a propensity to congeal in topically focused ways. That is, each community indicates a coherent topical focus, suggesting that graphene firms follow specific sets of users in ways that support their information and resource needs. At the micro-level, an unstructured text mining approach to operationalizing and computing information distance shows that increasing amounts of topical distance between any two users decreases the likelihood of a tie existing. Are innovation outcomes more likely to occur in strategically-developed and information-rich social media networks? Drawing on different sources of “behavioral additionality” – or changes in behaviors as a result of social media participation – I identify ex-ante several such plausible outcomes, which could include increased awareness, improved problem solving ability, community development, and greater sales. The qualitative results show that social media participation results in increased awareness of graphene and related ecosystem topics, but engagement is a key tactical maneuver that actors pursue, often in varying ways, to access and mobilize other resources. Policy implications are targeted at intermediary institutions and scientists, while management implications focus on high-technology SMEs. Limitations include alternative theories to explaining social media participation and engagement, methodological issues, and the continuing evolution of social media platforms and usage patterns. Future work is considered to address the temporal nature of network construction and topical growth (or constriction), as well as the ability to map areas of science and technology through social media data.

Underpinning economic growth is the emergence of entrepreneurial ventures with the potential to grow that boost job creation and provide new sources of products for mature companies. The critical role associated with new firms, underscores the importance of understanding how entrepreneurship unfolds. Network-based research, while leading the way to rich empirical studies provides a limited understanding of how entrepreneurial networks are built and their impact on the emergence of a new venture. Employing a multiple case study design and a perspective based on organizational path building, three young technology ventures were investigated in terms of the formation of networks around five key entrepreneurial activities defined by entrepreneurs. Rich insight into new venture emergence is presented in terms of the reciprocal relationship between specific activities enacted by entrepreneurs and the networks that form to execute those activities revealing the path building mechanisms that evolve to drive network development. The findings of this research not only contribute to theories of new venture emergence, but also offer an interesting opportunity for future research into factors that may influence the outcome of entrepreneurial ventures and provide practical insight for organizations seeking to sustain or develop an entrepreneurial path.

Underpinning economic growth is the emergence of entrepreneurial ventures with the potential to grow that boost job creation and provide new sources of products for mature companies. The critical role associated with new firms, underscores the importance of understanding how entrepreneurship unfolds. Network-based research, while leading the way to rich empirical studies provides a limited understanding of how entrepreneurial networks are built and their impact on the emergence of a new venture. Employing a multiple case study design and a perspective based on organizational path building, three young technology ventures were investigated in terms of the formation of networks around five key entrepreneurial activities defined by entrepreneurs. Rich insight into new venture emergence is presented in terms of the reciprocal relationship between specific activities enacted by entrepreneurs and the networks that form to execute those activities revealing the path building mechanisms that evolve to drive network development. The findings of this research not only contribute to theories of new venture emergence, but also offer an interesting opportunity for future research into factors that may influence the outcome of entrepreneurial ventures and provide practical insight for organizations seeking to sustain or develop an entrepreneurial path.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Cornell University, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 376-406).

In this thesis we investigate the scarcely analyzed relationship between entrepreneurial activity in the form of company start-ups in Sweden and age demographics. Using a panel data set with data from all 21 Swedish regions from 1989 to 2019, we test what impact different age groups have on the number of start-ups in Sweden. We do this both for the total number of companies founded and the number of ventures in the tech industry. We test our hypotheses with a quantitative approach, performing a regression with a fixed effects model. The results of our research can show several things. For example, we found that there indeed is a significant impact of age structure on the number of (tech) company start-ups. We can see an M-shaped relationship between age and general entrepreneurship, meaning that while young adults and people closer to the retirement age affect the total number of companies founded positively, very young, middle aged and very old people affect it in a negative way. For the Swedish tech industry, we could show that founders here tend to be younger than overall, which is why we can observe a gradual negative relationship between age and entrepreneurship there

Technology entrepreneurs and managers aim to navigate emerging technology ventures and innovations towards successful commercialisation and business development, often over long periods of time. However, this is challenging due to high uncertainties associated with planning and navigating relevant market and business drivers, technological resources and capabilities, and applications. Failure to understand and manage these uncertainties appropriately can lead to undesired consequences and poor outcomes in the realisation of value creation and capture. This research firstly built a knowledge base of technology ventures by conducting a literature review, enabling the development of a conceptual retrospective roadmapping framework as the basis for characterising the emergence of technology ventures. This leads to an analysis of 13 case studies, characterising phases, transitions, patterns, enablers and barriers associated with the emergence of technology ventures. A conceptual model, the so-called ‘emergence archetypes’, was then developed by conducting an in-depth analysis with a further 19 case studies. The concept provides practical insights regarding how emerging technology ventures can be exposed to different levels of technological and market uncertainties along the journey of technology commercialisation and business development. Finally, a strategy visualisation tool and process have been designed based on the research outputs, and a focus group was then conducted with industrial practitioners to review and evaluate the research outputs for practical use in industry. In total, 32 case studies and a focus group have been conducted in the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Japan, Australia and the United States. Overall, this research demonstrates that characterising technology venture emergence, by applying roadmapping principles, provides significant implications for both researchers and practitioners of strategy and innovation. Success or failure of emerging technology ventures, in terms of value creation and capture, is not only directly related to products or services, but more broadly to the innovation systems in which the technology ventures operate. By demonstrating the characterisation of technology venture emergence, the conceptualisation of emergence archetypes and the strategy visualisation tool and process development, this research shows that applying roadmapping is an appropriate method to characterise and improve emerging technology venturing practices, supporting value creation and capture.