IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/techno/v98y2020ics0166497220300468.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Scale quickly or fail fast: An inductive study of acceleration

Author

Listed:
  • Shankar, Raj K.
  • Clausen, Tommy H.

Abstract

Accelerators are a fast-growing form of entrepreneurship support. Literature about them remains descriptive and disjointed. While some consider them new, others believe them to be a next-generation incubator model. Based on a qualitative inductive study in India, with inputs from both accelerator executives and founders of accelerated ventures, we shift the analysis from the form (accelerator) to its underlying mechanism (acceleration). We identify at least three characteristics that make acceleration unique: a focus on product-market fit ventures; a focus on time-compressed scaling; and a focus on aggressive scalability testing. Our findings call for a shift in entrepreneurship support research (including accelerators) from “form” to “mechanism.” Entrepreneurs will find our three characteristics useful in assessing which programs truly accelerate, and therefore increase their chances of achieving scale. Accelerator executives can now distinguish their offerings from other support forms (e.g. incubators) by searching for ventures with product-market fit, offering time-compressed scaling services and testing the ventures’ ability to scale rapidly. University administrators and policymakers can use the findings to add acceleration (to support scaling) as a component of their entrepreneurial ecosystems. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Shankar, Raj K. & Clausen, Tommy H., 2020. "Scale quickly or fail fast: An inductive study of acceleration," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:techno:v:98:y:2020:i:c:s0166497220300468
    DOI: 10.1016/j.technovation.2020.102174
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166497220300468
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.technovation.2020.102174?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kuratko, Donald F. & Holt, Harrison L. & Neubert, Emily, 2020. "Blitzscaling: The good, the bad, and the ugly," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 109-119.
    2. Klofsten, Magnus & Fayolle, Alain & Guerrero, Maribel & Mian, Sarfraz & Urbano, David & Wright, Mike, 2019. "The entrepreneurial university as driver for economic growth and social change - Key strategic challenges," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 149-158.
    3. Kohler, Thomas, 2016. "Corporate accelerators: Building bridges between corporations and startups," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 59(3), pages 347-357.
    4. José Barbero & José Casillas & Mike Wright & Alicia Ramos Garcia, 2014. "Do different types of incubators produce different types of innovations?," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 151-168, April.
    5. Phillip Phan & Donald S. Siegel & Mike Wright, 2016. "Science Parks and Incubators: Observations, Synthesis and Future Research," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Phillip H Phan & Sarfraz A Mian & Wadid Lamine (ed.), TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND BUSINESS INCUBATION Theory • Practice • Lessons Learned, chapter 9, pages 249-272, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    6. Martin Bliemel & Ricardo Flores & Saskia De Klerk & Morgan P. Miles, 2019. "Accelerators as start-up infrastructure for entrepreneurial clusters," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(1-2), pages 133-149, January.
    7. Sarfraz Mian & Wadid Lamine & Alain Fayolle, 2016. "Technology Business Incubation: An overview of the state of knowledge," Post-Print hal-02014389, HAL.
    8. Mian, Sarfraz & Lamine, Wadid & Fayolle, Alain, 2016. "Technology Business Incubation: An overview of the state of knowledge," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 50, pages 1-12.
    9. Shankar, Raj K. & Shepherd, Dean A., 2019. "Accelerating strategic fit or venture emergence: Different paths adopted by corporate accelerators," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 1-1.
    10. Zoltan Acs & Thomas Åstebro & David Audretsch & David T. Robinson, 2016. "Public policy to promote entrepreneurship: a call to arms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 35-51, June.
    11. Autio, Erkko & Rannikko, Heikki, 2016. "Retaining winners: Can policy boost high-growth entrepreneurship?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 42-55.
    12. Susan Cohen, 2013. "What Do Accelerators Do? Insights from Incubators and Angels," Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization, MIT Press, vol. 8(3-4), pages 19-25, December.
    13. Sarfraz Mian & Wadid Lamine & Alain Fayolle, 2016. "Technology Business Incubation : An overview of the state of knowledge," Post-Print hal-02313371, HAL.
    14. Fuster, Elena & Padilla-Meléndez, Antonio & Lockett, Nigel & del-Águila-Obra, Ana Rosa, 2019. "The emerging role of university spin-off companies in developing regional entrepreneurial university ecosystems: The case of Andalusia," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 219-231.
    15. Pauwels, Charlotte & Clarysse, Bart & Wright, Mike & Van Hove, Jonas, 2016. "Understanding a new generation incubation model: The accelerator," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 50, pages 13-24.
    16. van Weele, Marijn & van Rijnsoever, Frank J. & Nauta, Frans, 2017. "You can't always get what you want: How entrepreneur's perceived resource needs affect the incubator's assertiveness," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 18-33.
    17. Scott Shane, 2009. "Why encouraging more people to become entrepreneurs is bad public policy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 141-149, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alexander Kramer & Dominik K. Kanbach, 2023. "Relationship-building in the post-acceleration phase of corporate accelerators: empirical evidence from Germany," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 755-779, June.
    2. Manhart, Niklas, 2022. "The Mission Comes First: Exploring the Mechanisms of Organizational Sponsorship for the Acceleration of Social Start-Ups," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 7(2), pages 289-337.
    3. Mula, Claire & Zybura, Nora & Hipp, Thomas, 2024. "From digitalized start-up to scale-up: Opening the black box of scaling in digitalized firms towards a scaling process framework," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    4. Atzmon, Morane Batya & Vanderstraeten, Johanna & Albers, Sascha, 2022. "Small-firm growth-enabling capabilities: A framework for young technology-based firms," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    5. Amann, Marie & Granström, Gabriel & Frishammar, Johan & Elfsberg, Jenny, 2022. "Mitigating not-invented-here and not-sold-here problems: The role of corporate innovation hubs," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    6. Becker, Kai & Ebbers, Joris J. & Engel, Yuval, 2023. "Network to passion or passion to network? Disentangling entrepreneurial passion selection and contagion effects among peers and teams in a startup accelerator," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 38(4).
    7. Bruce Martin & Lucia Walsh & Andrew Keating & Susi Geiger, 2024. "The Demise of a Rising Social Enterprise for Persons With Disabilities: The Ethics and the Uncertainty of Pure Effectual Logic When Scaling Up," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 191(1), pages 107-130, April.
    8. D’Amico, Elettra & Belitski, Maksim & Colombelli, Alessandra, 2023. "Evaluating Internal and External Knowledge Sources in Adopting Artificial Intelligence," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis LEI & BRICK - Laboratory of Economics of Innovation "Franco Momigliano", Bureau of Research in Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge, Collegio 202303, University of Turin.
    9. Thomas Ulmer & Ulrich Pape, 2022. "Streamliners, Switchmen and Bridge Builders: About the Mechanisms and Uniqueness of Accelerator Programs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-25, November.
    10. Avnimelech, Gil & Rechter, Eyal, 2023. "How and why accelerators enhance female entrepreneurship," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(2).
    11. Van Lancker, Evy & Knockaert, Mirjam & Collewaert, Veroniek & Breugst, Nicola, 2023. "Preparing for scaling: A study on founder role evolution," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 38(4).
    12. Amba Maria Erkelens & Neil Aaron Thompson & Dominic Chalmers, 2024. "The dynamic construction of an incubation context: a practice theory perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(2), pages 583-605, February.
    13. Berna Beyhan & Derya Fındık, 2022. "Selection of Sustainability Startups for Acceleration: How Prior Access to Financing and Team Features Influence Accelerators’ Selection Decisions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-23, February.
    14. D’Amico, Elettra & Belitski, Maksim & Colombelli, Alessandra, 2023. "Evaluating Internal and External Knowledge Sources in Adopting Artificial Intelligence," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 202315, University of Turin.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Brian J. Bergman & Jeffery S. McMullen, 2022. "Helping Entrepreneurs Help Themselves: A Review and Relational Research Agenda on Entrepreneurial Support Organizations," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 46(3), pages 688-728, May.
    2. Lukeš, Martin & Longo, Maria Cristina & Zouhar, Jan, 2019. "Do business incubators really enhance entrepreneurial growth? Evidence from a large sample of innovative Italian start-ups," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 82, pages 25-34.
    3. Gonzalez-Uribe, Juanita & Hmaddi, Ouafaa, 2022. "The multi-dimensional impacts of business accelerators: what does the research tell us?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115461, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Vidit Mohan & Rohan Chinchwadkar, 2022. "Technology Business Incubation: A Literature Review and Gaps," International Journal of Global Business and Competitiveness, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 53-63, June.
    5. J. Piet Hausberg & Sabrina Korreck, 2020. "Business incubators and accelerators: a co-citation analysis-based, systematic literature review," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 151-176, February.
    6. van Weele, Marijn & van Rijnsoever, Frank J. & Nauta, Frans, 2017. "You can't always get what you want: How entrepreneur's perceived resource needs affect the incubator's assertiveness," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 18-33.
    7. Chan, Yolande E. & Krishnamurthy, Rashmi & Sadreddin, Arman, 2022. "Digitally-enabled university incubation processes," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    8. Charlene L. Nicholls-Nixon & Dave Valliere & Steven A. Gedeon & Sean Wise, 2021. "Entrepreneurial ecosystems and the lifecycle of university business incubators: An integrative case study," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 809-837, June.
    9. Vanderstraeten, Johanna & van Witteloostuijn, Arjen & Matthyssens, Paul, 2020. "Organizational sponsorship and service co-development: A contingency view on service co-development directiveness of business incubators," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    10. Surana, Kavita & Singh, Anuraag & Sagar, Ambuj D, 2020. "Strengthening science, technology, and innovation-based incubators to help achieve Sustainable Development Goals: Lessons from India," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    11. Pustovrh, Ales & Rangus, Kaja & Drnovšek, Mateja, 2020. "The role of open innovation in developing an entrepreneurial support ecosystem," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    12. Alexander Kramer & Dominik K. Kanbach, 2023. "Relationship-building in the post-acceleration phase of corporate accelerators: empirical evidence from Germany," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 755-779, June.
    13. Del Sarto, Nicola & Isabelle, Diane A. & Di Minin, Alberto, 2020. "The role of accelerators in firm survival: An fsQCA analysis of Italian startups," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 90.
    14. Sansone, Giuliano & Andreotti, Pietro & Colombelli, Alessandra & Landoni, Paolo, 2020. "Are social incubators different from other incubators? Evidence from Italy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    15. Moritz, Alexandra & Naulin, Tamara & Lutz, Eva, 2022. "Accelerators as drivers of coopetition among early-stage startups," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    16. Han, Shaojie & Su, Jingqin & Lyu, Yibo & Liu, Qing, 2022. "How do business incubators govern incubation relationships with different new ventures?," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    17. Mingfeng Tang & Grace Sheila Walsh & Cuiwen Li & Angathevar Baskaran, 2021. "Exploring technology business incubators and their business incubation models: case studies from China," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 90-116, February.
    18. Manhart, Niklas, 2022. "The Mission Comes First: Exploring the Mechanisms of Organizational Sponsorship for the Acceleration of Social Start-Ups," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 7(2), pages 289-337.
    19. Alaassar, Ahmad & Mention, Anne-Laure & Aas, Tor Helge, 2021. "Exploring a new incubation model for FinTechs: Regulatory sandboxes," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    20. Amandine Maus & Sylvie Sammut, 2018. "Business model innovation in incubators: the role played by dynamic capabilities theory," Post-Print hal-02466175, HAL.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:techno:v:98:y:2020:i:c:s0166497220300468. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01664972 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.