Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons^™

Standard Licensing Template For University Of Akron Startups, Drew Horton

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In order to facilitate fast, equitable, and effective sublicensing to University of Akron technology startups, spinoffs, and spinouts, an express license was developed. This expresses license was developed by benchmarking existing terms in order to determine market rates. Universities, venture capital firms, and nonprofits were interviewed in order to establish a set of best practice guidelines for the creation of the express license. These results were then tabulated and statistically analyzed in order to determine a series of startup friendly terms that support the University of Akron’s interests. A series of express licenses were then developed from this data. These …

Arclothmasks: A Pandemic Startup Journey, Adam Jackson

Information Systems Undergraduate Honors Theses

Covid-19 changed the way the world operated when it became a pandemic in 2020. The need for personal protection equipment was unexpected and suppliers were not prepared for the demand. The government mandate of masks furthered the need of PPE across the nation. To help fill this shortage, many companies began to retool their manufacturing processes from clothing to masks. This thesis will dive into one PPE company and its journey from the start of the pandemic. The business plan for the company will follow it along with graphs and charts that help tell the tale of the startup.

Sinwattana: Capital Crowdfunding For Thai Smes, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

A Singaporean entrepreneur falls in love with Thailand, and creates the country’s first online equity crowdfunding platform

A Cio’S Take On Singapore’S Startup Ecosystem, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

New challenges will drive innovation, says CPG’s Tan Shao Yen

Perceived Entrepreneur Quality And Company Performance: A Study Of Accelerator Impact On Startups., Henry Canfield

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

When talking about entrepreneurship, an immense ecosystem appears, from startups success and funding, to public policies and the entrepreneur itself. This applied research study the entrepreneur’s characteristics, using as guide the Traits, Skills and Motivation model from Baum and Locke (2004), within a selected group of entrepreneurs that are part of Accelerator programs, focused to understanding the accelerator contribution to the entrepreneur and its company growth. The study was developed by a qualitative phase with semi-structure in-depth interviews with these entrepreneurs and accelerator’s executives, resulting in rich data coded using Nvivo software, and serving as base for the model design …

Venture Capital In Nevada, Peter Grema, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet provides an overview of venture capital in the State of Nevada. Venture capital is an essential part of economic diversification and business startup development. The Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah are used for comparative purposes to add context to Nevada’s venture capital ecosystem. The differing nature of venture capital funds in Northern and Southern Nevada is delineated.

Strategies For Sourcing Funding For Startup Businesses In Nigeria, Nelly Nwabuisi Adiawari Oburo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some small and medium enterprise (SME) owners are challenged with sourcing adequate funds to start and continue in business. Financing SMEs is critical to their owners to ensure they can remain financially viable and continue contributing to Nigeria’s gross domestic product and economic growth. Grounded in the pecking order theory and the financial growth cycle theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies owners of startup SMEs in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nigeria, can adopt to source funds required to start and sustain a business beyond 5 years. Data were collected through semistructured interviews from …

So, You Want To Be An Entrepreneur: Potential Factors That Lead To Founder And Startup Success, Joshua Robert Tatum

CMC Senior Theses

Throughout the last two decades, entrepreneurship and startup companies have skyrocketed. Adding significant value to the economy, entrepreneurialism has immense power to spark technological and social change in the world. Given the importance of entrepreneurialism, this paper will use a data-driven approach to discover significant factors that influence founder and startup company success. Founding startups is growing easier and becoming more prominent, yet the failure rates of these companies continue to settle around 90%, leaving many companies without the chance to reach their potential and have their full impact. Using a new dataset I have collected, I analyze company and …

Analysis Of The Podcast Industry And Business Growth Of Upside.Fm, Alyson Stoll, Katelyn Stanoch, John Skakun, Samantha Heim, Maanasa Humchad

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper explores the podcast industry with a focus on business related podcasts about entrepreneurship and startup businesses. The paper works to analyze the podcast industry and midwestern startup cities in order to assist podcast company, Upside.fm, in expanding their business model. The two main ideas researched throughout the paper are consumer behaviors in the podcast industry and the entrepreneurial ecosystems of multiple midwestern cities in the U.S including, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kansas City, Missouri, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Indianapolis, Indiana. For the consumer behavior aspect of the research, a survey was conducted and analyzed to discover what podcast listeners enjoy and …

Advancing U.S. Latino Entrepreneurship: A New National Economic Imperative, Marlene Orozco, Alfonso Morales, Michael J. Pisani, Jerry I. Porras

Purdue University Press Book Previews

Advancing U.S. Latino Entrepreneurship examines business formation and success among Latinos by identifying arrangements that enhance entrepreneurship and by understanding the sociopolitical contexts that shape entrepreneurial trajectories. While it is well known that Latinos make up one of the largest and fastest growing populations in the U.S., Latino-owned businesses are now outpacing this population growth and the startup business growth of all other demographic groups in the country.

The institutional arrangements shaping business formation are no level playing field. Minority entrepreneurs face racism and sexism, but structural barriers are not the only obstacles that matter; there are agentic barriers and …

Nice Food: A Nonprofit Food Truck, Nathan Brooks

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This document is a snapshot of Nice Food, a nonprofit food truck. The truck uses a pay-what-you-can model so that anyone may eat there, regardless of their ability to pay. The chief goal of Nice Food is to lower food insecurity in its community, which will initially be Louisville, KY. The company will be an addition to the strong effort against hunger in Louisville, bringing the additional strength of mobility to the fight.

This document exists to map out the path of a startup for a student, as well as to provide a clear picture of what Nice Food is …

The High Rise Storage System, Justin H. Harmon

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Customer Collaboration On Agile Product Development Success In Technology Startups Within The Pacific Northwest, Chad Ryan Thompson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

While agile software development is being adopted in more organizations recently, many products using the methodology are still failing in the market due to inadequate customer collaboration despite the purported benefits. Within start-ups, where speed and early market penetration can be the death or success of a company, understanding if using agile software development including adequate customer collaboration makes a significant difference is important. A study which investigates the impact of including customer collaboration in the agile product development process could uncover whether or not a product is successful within technology focused start-up’s in the Pacific Northwest. This research could …

Factors Of Women-Founded High-Growth Technology Startup, Renee Gillard

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to identify and describe critical startup factors of high-growth technology startups as identified by women founders in Seattle, Washington.

Methodology: This mixed-method study identified and described 15 women founders of high-growth technology startups in Seattle. Participants were chosen based on specific criteria and recommendations of a sponsor and expert panel. Interviews were conducted with the participants and they completed an online survey.

Findings: Ten major findings emerged from the data. Founders fostered a strong network of professional and personal relationships to help develop and solidify their identity; they also …

My Pop-Up Shoppe, Brenna Backemeyer

Honors Theses

My Pop-Up Shoppe is a curriculum to teach students problem-solving and independent learning through running a small business. Everything needed to facilitate a My Pop-Up Shoppe experience where students will take part in a hands-on, real-life entrepreneurial journey is included. During My Pop-Up Shoppe, students will receive a product provided by the facilitator, school or organization and be challenged to turn the product into a running business with real sales and customers. The facilitator will empower students to be startup founders. The suggested timeline of My Pop-Up Shoppe is anywhere from a weekend to two-weeks.

The curriculum package gives instructions …

The Alchemy Of Sustaining New Business Ventures, Alicia R. Hooks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The high failure rates of new business ventures (NBV) negatively affect employment and potential contributions to the economic health of communities. The high NBV failure rate is essential, as NBV sustainability influences job creation and increases employment rates in communities surrounding the NBV. The purpose of this qualitative single case study, using the effectuation conceptual framework, was to explore strategies organization leaders in the state of Missouri used for sustaining NBV operations beyond 5 years. The sample consisted of 6 NBV consultants from a single Missouri NBV consulting firm who have sustained NBVs beyond 5 years. The 6 NBV consultants …

Business Sustainability Strategies Of Small Technology Companies, Eric Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Each year, almost 12% of small technology companies fail to survive, and the risks associated with high-tech startups are high for business failure due to the introduction of new technology, similar competitor technology, and the short product life cycle of new products. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the business sustainability strategies that some owners of small technology companies used to remain in operation for longer than 5 years. The population for the study was the owners of 5 small technology companies located in the southeast region of the United States. The general systems theory was …

Book Review: Zero To One, By Peter Thiel, Ammon Kou

Marriott Student Review

This is a book review of Zero to One by Peter Thiel.

Exploring Startup Funding For Small Business Sector Growth, Job Creation And Reduction Of Youth Unemployment In Nigeria, Christian O. Akaeze, Nana A. Akaeze

Bullion

Unemployment generates welfare loss from lowered output, income, and wellbeing which impedes social progress in a nation. Youth unemployment is a major problem currently confronting Nigeria (Nwogwugwu & Irechukwu, 2015). However, in developing economies jobs are created through small businesses. Nevertheless, unemployed youths with small business ideas experience financial constraints and lack access to startup capital. The intent of this study was to explore the experiences of some owners who succeeded with small business initiatives despite challenges from lack of access to formal and informal sources of capital. Semi-structured interviews with 15 successful small business owners located in Lagos who …

Business Mind To Business Owner: Finding Startup Success, Ammon Kou

Marriott Student Review

Entrepreneurs face a host of challenges when starting a business. Three business owners share their experiences.

Market-Entry Strategies Of Startup Owners, Evgeny Tsaplin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Russia's startups fail at high rates. The purpose of this multiple case study was to understand the market-entry strategies used by accelerated startup managers to succeed in business longer than the first 3 years. The target population for this study was 3 startup owners who completed an acceleration program from the Internet Initiatives Development Fund and continued to operate businesses that generated revenue. The participants in the study were located in 3 different cities in Russia: Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Tomsk. The conceptual framework for the study was Raheem and Akhuemonkhan's theory of enterprise development and von Bertalanffy's general system …

The Role Of Early Customers In The Venture Creation Process, Maya Kumar

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

While startups’ interactions with early potential customers may occur long before product creation, entrepreneurs often fail to recognize how these interactions impact startup development. My research proposes that early customers are central influences and develops a model of customer interactions. More specifically, my dissertation focuses on answering: When and how do startups interact with early customers during the venture creation process, and how do these interactions create path dependence for the type of organization being created?

I undertook an inductive, qualitative process study of nine startups located in incubators and studied customer interactions in near-real-time. My findings show that types …

Profitability Ratios In The Early Stages Of A Startup, Erkki K. Laitinen

The Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance

This study develops a mathematical framework to analyze the time series of profitability ratios in the early stages of a startup. It is assumed that the expenditure of the startup grows at a steady rate and generates a proportionally identical flow of revenue in each period. The profitability in terms of the internal rate of return (IRR) and the lag structure of revenue flows are assumed constant over time in describing the adjustment process towards the steady state. The startup is assumed to expense in each period a constant part of periodic expenditure and beginning-of-the-period assets. The adjustment processes of …

Do Rio, Barbara Brasil Marcolini

Capstones

Do Rio is a solutions journalism platform for residents of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It consists of a website and Facebook page where Rio de Janeiro’s citizens find inspiring stories of people who found solutions for their city’s problems, exchange ideas about the the challenges Rio faces and take part in events with positive impact. This project was created by Barbara Marcolini at the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism as part of her Master’s in Entrepreneurial Journalism at CUNY J-School.

Link: http://do-rio.com/

Zeppy Low Calorie Alcoholic Beverages Business Plan, Allison Zeppuhar

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The documentation of a college-level student starting her first company in the alcoholic beverage industry. Allison Zeppuhar created a low calorie alcoholic beverage brand called Zeppy during her junior and senior year of college at James Madison University. This documentation includes an executive summary, a reflection of her findings, her timeline, an entity-relationship diagram, To Be Manufacturing and Customer Order process maps, and a progress journal.

Byu Tech Club: At The Base Of Silicon Slopes, William R. Adams

Marriott Student Review

As technology continues to drive Utah's economic growth, Brigham Young University students have launchd the BYU Tech Club to inform their peers with technical and non-technical degrees of career opportunities in technology, build the skills and knowledge to be attractive job candidates, and earn internship and full-time offers from high-grow startups and leading technology companies.

Startup Elsewhere, Michaela Ross

Capstones

Immigrants have made outsized contributions to American innovation and entrepreneurship, but the headwinds they face in the U.S. are now driving them to return to their native countries to startup their tech companies.

U.S. immigrants make up only 13% of the country’s overall population, but they have filed over a quarter of the country’s global patent applications, won a third of America’s Nobel prizes in the sciences in the last hundred years and make up over half of all computer science Ph.D. students in U.S. universities. Immigrants also build businesses at twice the rate of native-born Americans, and over the …

Creative Achievement And Intelligence In Student Entrepreneurs, Todd A. Finkle, Mark Shrader

Todd A Finkle

An Examination Of The Job Market For Entrepreneurship Faculty From 1989 To 2014, Todd A. Finkle

Todd A Finkle

Creativity Exercises In The Field Of Entrepreneurship, Todd A. Finkle, Mark Shrader

Todd A Finkle