Starting resource configurations of research-based start-ups and the interaction with technology, institutional background, and industrial dynamics

Abstract

We study the starting resources of start-ups, which develop and market new products or services based upon a proprietary technology or skill. We define these companies as researchbased start-ups (RBSUs). We look at how technological, financial and human resources at founding cluster together to form different starting resource configurations. Using a unique hand-collected dataset of RBSUs in Belgium, we find four different types of starting configurations: “Venture Capital-backed start-ups,” “Prospectors,” “Product start-ups” and “Transitional start-ups”. This study shows that these different types of starting resource configurations are not only empirically distinct but can also be conceptually explained by internal factors such as the entrepreneurial orientation at start-up and external factors such as the origin of the firm and the characteristics of the industry in which the firm competes.