Abstract:

Each year, promising ideas from student entrepreneurs fail to make it to the commercialization phase due to a complex web of barriers that hinder the transition of innovation to market-ready solutions. Using Bartels' (1968) economic (market) separations theory, which conceptualizes such barriers as separations between producers and consumers, this paper aims to identify the nature, evolution, and extent of market separations in early-stage technology start-ups. This article examines how these separations manifest during the various stages of the start-up lifecycle, aligned with specific Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs). This study uses a qualitative interpretivist approach and is based on in-depth interviews with seven student-led tech start-ups from a government-supported incubator. To analyze the interview data, we have used MAXQDA software, following Braun and Clarke's (2006) thematic analysis. The analysis helped relate start-up challenges to the market separation framework. The findings reveal that market separations vary according to the nature of the business and are interlinked, often creating a cascading effect that delays start-ups' time to market (TTM). Further, a different type of market separation seems to take prominence at each stage of the start-up lifecycle, reflecting challenges associated with their corresponding TRLs. The study contributes to theory by extending Bartels’ framework with the introduction of a new dimension called “Innovation Separation” and by mapping start-up challenges to their respective lifecycle stages using TRLs.

Please choose your submission type: Full Paper

Primary Track: Entrepreneurship

Keywords: Entrepreneurship Theories;International entrepreneurship;Entrepreneurship in emerging markets

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Mrs. NEHA JASWAL

Biography