Initial business models in new technology-based firms

​One of the central motivations of this study is related to the fact that our knowledge about start-up firms and their growth has been somewhat dominated by scholarly work conducted in somewhat later phases of a new technology-based firm (NTBF). While these studies have been an important contribution to our overall knowledge base, entrepreneurial activity always takes place in a given social and cultural setting, which provides entrepreneurial individuals with opportunities and resources. The planned research will be based on a comparative mixed-method longitudinal approach conducted in Sweden and Finland. A quantitative data collection (questionnaire) of Swedish and Finnish NTBFs will be complemented with comparative cases from both Sweden and Finland. Therefore, as a step towards this direction, the purpose of the current research project is to look into the successes and failures of new technology-based start-up firms, to contribute to the improvement of our practices in getting new start-up firms up and running, and achieving sustainable growth. More specifically, the overall objective of the research project is to investigate the relationship between initial business models and business growth in NTBFs, i.e. how and to what extent the initial business model of a NTBF (start-up firms) impacts its capacity to seek and realize business growth at later phases of firm development.