@article {1075, title = {Accelerating Research Innovation by Adopting the Lean Startup Paradigm}, journal = {Technology Innovation Management Review}, volume = {7}, year = {2017}, month = {05/2017}, pages = {32-43}, publisher = {Talent First Network}, address = {Ottawa}, abstract = {Converting scientific expertise into marketable products and services is playing an increasingly important role in the launching of new ventures, the growth of existing firms, and the creation of new jobs. In this article, we explore how the lean startup paradigm, which validates the market for a product with a business model that can sustain subsequent scaling, has led to a new process model to accelerate innovation. We then apply this paradigm to the context of research at universities and other research organizations. The article is based on the assumption that the organizational context matters, and it shows how a deeper understanding of the research context could enable an acceleration of the innovation process. We complement theoretical examples with a case example from VTT Technical Research Institute of Finland. Our findings show that many of the concepts from early-acceleration phases {\textendash} and the lean startup paradigm {\textendash} can also be relevant in innovation discussions within the research context. However, the phase of value-proposition discovery is less adequately addressed, and that of growth discovery, with its emphasis on building on a scalable, sustainable business does not seem to be addressed with the presented innovation approaches from the research context. Hence, the entrepreneurial activities at the research context differ from those in startups and internal startups in established organizations.}, keywords = {commercialization, context, innovation, innovation acceleration, innovation paradox, lean startup, research, research organization, VTT}, issn = {1927-0321}, doi = {http://doi.org/10.22215/timreview/1075}, url = {http://timreview.ca/article/1075}, author = {Kaisa Still} } @article {1103, title = {The Core Interaction of Platforms: How Startups Connect Users and Producers}, journal = {Technology Innovation Management Review}, volume = {7}, year = {2017}, month = {09/2017}, pages = {17-29}, publisher = {Talent First Network}, address = {Ottawa}, abstract = {The platform economy is disrupting innovation while presenting both opportunities and challenges for startups. Platforms support value creation between multiple participant groups, and this operationalization of an ecosystem{\textquoteright}s value co-creation represents the {\textquotedblleft}core interaction{\textquotedblright} of a platform. This article focuses on that core interaction and studies how startups connect producers and users in value-creating core interaction through digital platforms. The study is based on an analysis of 29 cases of platform startups interviewed at a leading European startup event. The studied startups were envisioning even millions of users and hundreds or thousands of producers co-creating value on their platforms. In such platform businesses, our results highlight the importance of attracting a large user pool, providing novel services to those users, offering a new market for producers, supporting the core interaction in various ways, and utilizing elements of the platform canvas {\textendash} an adaptation of the business model canvas, which we have accommodated for platform-based business models {\textendash} to accomplish these goals.}, keywords = {core interaction, digital platforms, multisided markets, platform business, platform canvas, slush event, startups, value creation}, issn = {1927-0321}, doi = {http://doi.org/10.22215/timreview/1103}, url = {http://timreview.ca/article/1103}, author = {Heidi M. E. Korhonen and Kaisa Still and Marko Sepp{\"a}nen and Miika Kumpulainen and Arho Suominen and Katri Valkokari} } @article {1023, title = {Entrepreneurial Growth Ambitions: The Case of Finnish Technology Startups}, journal = {Technology Innovation Management Review}, volume = {6}, year = {2016}, month = {10/2016}, pages = {5-16}, publisher = {Talent First Network}, address = {Ottawa}, abstract = {Technology startups are expected to be a major driving force of economic growth in Europe. The search for new high-growth startups has been particularly topical in Finland, the country that is known for its high-tech products {\textendash} and the fall of Nokia{\textquoteright}s mobile phone business. Although a record number of startups has been established in recent years, the previously identified challenge is that only a small percentage of entrepreneurial businesses are responsible for the lion{\textquoteright}s share of economic benefits typically associated with entrepreneurial activity. Hence, we need better understanding of what level of growth technology entrepreneurs aim to create and why there may be differences in growth ambitions among them. In this study, we undertook interpretivist case study research in pursuit of rich, empirically grounded understanding of entrepreneurial growth ambitions in the context of Finnish technology startups. We interviewed entrepreneurs at a Finnish startup event and supplemented this information with data available publicly on the Internet related to the growth ambitions of startups. Our study sought to increase understanding of the different aspects of entrepreneurial growth ambitions, and to explore the relationship between context and growth. Based on the findings, we suggest that growth ambitions should be seen as a complex, socially constructed concept. The growth ambitions of entrepreneurs in our study were influenced, at least in part, by their startups{\textquoteright} institutional and market contexts, the scalability of their business models, their personal characteristics and experience, and their perceptions of the barriers and constraints of the field. We conclude that startups have very different growth pathways: although the growth of one startup may depend on the talent of a few software developers, the growth of another startup may be based on its success in building international sales networks. As a result, to get most out of the support provided for a startup ecosystem, support activities should be tailored to different types of high-growth startups. }, keywords = {entrepreneurial innovation, growth ambitions, startups}, issn = {1927-0321}, doi = {http://doi.org/10.22215/timreview/1023}, url = {http://timreview.ca/article/1023}, author = {Arto Wallin and Kaisa Still and Katja Henttonen} }