Teaching Them How to Fish: The Makings of Business Accelerators

Chen, Chuan; He, Junnan

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3869952

Cited by 2 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, through their own network, founders often have limited access to the resources they need, which restrains them from implementing their business ideas. Additionally, it is difficult for startups in early stages to find external investors due to the high degree of uncertainty regarding their prospects [6,11,12]. Accelerators support startups in overcoming these problems and speed up their development process [17] by helping them during the entire process of resource mobilization.…”

Section: Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The findings of these studies vary considerably because the great heterogeneity of accelerator programs is not always sufficiently considered [11,13]. Empirical studies have shown that, especially, top accelerators are able to positively influence the development of startups [12,14]. Top programs better support portfolio companies in acquiring subsequent financing and improving human capital [12].…”

Section: Acceleratorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Empirical studies have shown that, especially, top accelerators are able to positively influence the development of startups [12,14]. Top programs better support portfolio companies in acquiring subsequent financing and improving human capital [12]. Compared to startups that do not participate in an accelerator, participants of top programs reduce the time to follow-on financing, improve market awareness, increase the equity valuation and expand the life expectancy of the startup [14,54].…”

Section: Acceleratorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the founding process involves a variety of challenges, uncertainties and liabilities associated with smallness and newness [8][9][10]. Additionally, startups are often characterized by a lack of resources, not only in terms of financial capital, but also human, organizational, social and symbolic capital [6,11,12]. Therefore, despite their immense economic importance, many young companies fail in early stages [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, startups are often characterized by a lack of resources, not only in terms of financial capital, but also human, organizational, social and symbolic capital [6,11,12]. Therefore, despite their immense economic importance, many young companies fail in early stages [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Streamliners, Switchmen and Bridge Builders: About the Mechanisms and Uniqueness of Accelerator Programs

Ulmer

Pape

2022

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Accelerators are a new and fast-growing element in entrepreneurial ecosystems. However, our understanding about their impact on the development of startups remains limited. Utilizing a grounded theory approach and in-depth interviews with 21 entrepreneurs, this study investigates the value-adding mechanisms of accelerators. Our analysis, however, is not limited to financial capital, which allows us to highlight the relative importance of different forms of capital in the context of accelerators. We aim to understand how accelerators stimulate the development of participants and extend the support landscape for early-stage startups. Our results are threefold. First, we demonstrate that accelerators facilitate every step in the resource mobilization by reducing uncertainties and compensating for deficiencies. Second, the founding process becomes more structured, as participants build a founder identity and the process itself is professionalized. Third, accelerators support startups in building a resource base, by providing immediate resources and building bridges to various other resources.

show abstract