Survival and growth of Hungarian start-ups

Abstract

Most start-ups die and most survivors fail to grow dynamically. The aim of the paper is to summarize the factors found in the international literature, supported by empirical research, that influence the survival and growth of start-ups, and evaluates the results of expert interviews conducted with renowned players in the Hungarian start-up ecosystem. During the research process fourteen expert interviews were conducted and analysed with combined logic, integrating deductive and inductive approaches. Based on the results, there is little overlap among factors identified in the international literature and those highlighted by Hungarian experts as influencing the survival and growth of start-ups. However, international and Hungarian results unanimously emphasize that entrepreneurial education, internationalization, acquisitions and heterogeneity of the start-up team's knowledge and skills play a significant role in the success of startup businesses. Despite the limitations of the research, results may prove to be beneficial to both start-up ecosystem players and policymakers.

Crisis Resilience of Startup Companies (The Case of Hungary among the Visegrad Countries with a Focus on the Pandemic)

“…Startups are very fragile and hard to find. This is particularly true in a post-socialist Central and Eastern European country such as Hungary, characterized by a young startup ecosystem, where, unlike in the Western European and Anglo-Saxon ecosystems, long-term time series are not available for studying startup businesses [18].…”