Blitzscaling: The good,the bad,and the ugly

Today’s disruptive innovations are driving the creation of numerous billion-dollar startups. Venture capitalists focus on these potentially disruptive technology startups and fund them furiously, advancing their speed of growth. The idea is to scale fast and seek huge returns for investors. Terms that define this type of aggressive scaling have recently developed in Silicon Valley. Unicorn is defined as a venture with a value of $1 billion, while a decacorn describes startups with a value of $10 billion. Another recent term is blitzscaling: funding a venture for extremely fast growth and prioritizing speed over efficiency in an environment of uncertainty. While blitzscaling is being used heavily by investors in Silicon Valley, we look at exactly what comprises this new phenomenon and how it is used in practice. We examine the concept, its stages, and its prevalence before reviewing the different examples of how the strategy has been implemented for success (the good), cases of its failure in practice (the bad), and the extreme cases of ethical compromise by ventures (the ugly). From these cases, we draw specific lessons that, if understood and appropriately addressed, would help new ventures effectively implement the strategy.     

政府背景风险投资会促进企业创新吗

利用创业板公司数据，研究政府背景风险投资对企业创新的影响，并对其影响机制进行了讨论。实证结果表明，政府背景风险投资对企业创新投入有显著促进作用，但也诱发了大量逆向选择问题；非政府背景风险投资对企业创新投入不仅不会发挥促进作用，反而会对上市后的被投企业表现出“盘剥”行为，阻碍企业创新投入。进一步探讨政府背景风险投资的作用机制后发现，从政府对风险投资的控制权角度而言，政府参股的风险投资可以促进被投企业创新投入，而政府控股的风险投资却呈现出显著的逆向选择现象；从政府背景风险投资对被投企业的参与度而言，通过董事会参与公司治理会对企业创新产生显著影响，而对企业的持股比例不会显著影响创新。     

Beyond technical skills training: The impact of credit counseling on the entrepreneurial behavior of Ugandan youth

There is low take‐up of financial credit among youth in Uganda because potential beneficiaries perceive associated risks as high. This study assesses the determinants of entrepreneurial risk tolerance among Ugandan youth using experimental data from a randomized control trial and a real‐life investment‐risk experiment. Credit counseling was provided to young men and women aged 18–35 who owned a business to educate them about the obligations and commitments associated with financial credit. The intervention had a significant impact on demand for credit and related intermediate outcomes such as ownership of a bank account and investment in assets. The study finds that youth exhibited lower demand for credit after business training because of increased awareness regarding the actual risks associated with receiving credit. Our findings reinforce national strategies to promote soft skills for business entrepreneurship that extend beyond standard business training.     

创业导向下双元机会能力对新企业绩效的影响

机会能力在较大程度上影响新企业绩效，但是，已有研究未从双元性角度对机会能力在何种条件下能够更好地促进新企业绩效给出合理解释。在回顾已有研究的基础上，根据理论研究构建了双元机会能力与新创企业绩效间关系及创业导向调节效应的理论模型，并采用多元回归方法对陕西地区199家民营新创企业的调研数据进行实证研究。结果发现：利用型机会能力与企业绩效间呈倒U型关系；探索型机会能力与企业绩效间呈倒U型关系；创业导向对双元机会能力与企业绩效的关系具有调节作用，不同维度的调节作用方向不同。研究结论有助于指导新创企业构建双元机会能力和创业导向战略以获取更好成长与发展。     

From boundary line to boundary space: The creation of hybrid organizations as a Triple Helix micro-foundation

In a Triple Helix framework, independent hybrid organizations can be created at the intersection of overlapping yet separate institutional spheres to address innovation blockages. However, the formation process of these organizations, which incorporate and combine elements from the Triple Helix spheres, has seldom been investigated. We address this gap by proposing a model that conceptualizes the creation process of these organizations. We argue that their creation opens up a “boundary space” that differs from a boundary line. By comparing empirical results of three cases, we identify a three-step creation process (recognizing a gap; bringing Triple Helix representatives together and creating a consensus; and designing an ad hoc contingent solution). We highlight the individual role of a boundary spanner in these dynamics. The results provide new insights on the micro-foundations of the Triple Helix. They also suggest an extension of the “boundary spanner” concept.     

创业驱动的区域创新体系模型及其运行机制研究

本文在区域创新体系框架下,基于对美国硅谷区域创新体系的深入分析,归纳出一种创业驱动的区域创新体系模型,并对其运行机制进行了探讨,旨在对国内区域创新体系的建设起到启示与借鉴作用。     

新创企业合法性门槛的跨越机制——基于事件系统理论的案例研究

新创企业会面临能否跨越合法性门槛的严峻考验,但是新创企业面临何种合法性门槛以及如何跨越等问题的研究不为多见,因此很有必要推进新创企业合法性门槛跨越机制研究。文章运用事件系统理论,以滴滴出行和ofo小黄车为例,从事件时空和强度的角度构建分析框架,研究新创企业合法性门槛跨越机制。研究发现,新创企业在合法化过程中存在多重合法性门槛;外部评价者身份的多样性和判断模式的转变,通过影响关键事件的强度引起合法性门槛的周期变化。同时文章揭示了新创企业合法性门槛跨越机制,发现合法性门槛跨越机制具有迭起性,企业在一次次地合法性门槛跨越中,实现合法性水平的动态积累与显著提升;关键事件的时间、空间、强度属性,充分显示新创企业合法性门槛跨越机制的具体内容。本研究促进了新创企业合法性获取的动态研究,拓展了事件系统理论的应用领域,对致力于共享经济模式创新的新创企业提供了实践指导。     

Barriers to investment in the informal venture capital sector

Much of the government intervention into the market ‘gap’ for start-up and early-stage equity finance in the UK is based on the belief that the problem is on the supply side. Based on an analysis of the informal venture capital market this paper argues that there is no shortage of finance available. A survey of business angels reveals that many are willing to allocate a higher proportion of their investment portfolio to investments in unquoted companies, with recent tax incentives having a positive effect on their willingness to invest. Over 90% are currently looking to make more investments. However, there are constraints on their ability to invest: they do not see enough deals that meet their investment criteria, the majority of the investment proposals that they receive are of poor quality, and they are often unable to negotiate acceptable investment terms and conditions with entrepreneurs. The implication is that there is a need for further interventions by policy-makers to remove these barriers so that more small firms can take advantage of the substantial pool of angel finance that is available.     

Relational venture capital financing of serial founders

I study how often and why a serial founder receives financing for his new company from a venture capital (VC) firm that also invested in his previous company. One in 10 VC investments leads to a repeated relationship and one in three serial founders enters into a repeated relationship with any previous VC firm. A repeated relationship is more likely when the relational VC firm has acquired more private information about the founder, but less likely if the founder’s new venture has a bad fit with the VC firm’s geographic or industry focus. My findings add to the literature on relational financing by showing that the preservation of information is an important motivation for relational financing when screening and monitoring costs are high. Yet, repeated relationships are discontinued because investors also respond to information problems by specializing in certain types of firms. Finally, I find evidence of non-relational investments being passed onto trusted VC syndication partners.     

Evaluation uncertainty of venture capitalists' investment criteria

This paper analyzes the decision process of venture capitalists. The study focuses on aligning the evaluation uncertainty in the decision criteria of venture capitalists with the progress of the process. The reasoning builds from the concept of search, experience and credence qualities, which was developed in the economics of information and allows the identification of the varying uncertainty of a single decision criterion compared to other criteria, along with uncertainty variations throughout the process. Exploratory empirical evidence suggests that in the early steps of the process in particular, management criteria are uncertain, while at the end of the process other criteria couple with uncertainty.