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The Road To Legitimacy: A Study Of Startups And Their Established Competitors In The Australian Wine Industry (Summary), Clay Dibrell, Aaron Johnson, Peter Davis, Ken Moores, Justin Craig

Justin B. Craig

A barrier to startup success is the liability of newness. One strategy to overcome this obstacle is through gaining venture legitimacy. Legitimacy is defined as acceptance, suitability, and appeal of the startup as judged by external and internal stakeholders such as the marketplace, industry competitors, and employees. Through attainment of legitimacy, a startup now has increased opportunities to access resources required for survival and growth. Drawing from institutional theory, a startup should heed external institutional forces and adapt to isomorphic pressures to gain legitimacy in an industry. Alternatively, a resource-based view perspective suggests that internal coordination and marshaling of resources …