Starting Up in Business Networks
Why Relationships Matter in Entrepreneurship

Editors: Lise Aaboen, Antonella La Rocca, Frida Lind, Andrea Perna, Tommy Shih



Provides evidence and illustrations of the importance of inter-organizational business relationships for starting-up in business networks

Includes examples of start-ups connecting to the business landscape in countries such as Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands and China

Proposes a conceptual framework on starting-up a new business venture, developed from empirical case studies  

This book offers a novel perspective on starting-up new business ventures through examining the process by which they become part of the existing business environment. The book highlights the importance of inter-organizational business relationships. Asserting that new ventures need to interact and connect with customers and suppliers, alongside policy actors and universities, Starting up in Business Networks demonstrates how beginning a new venture demands initiating and developing business relationships. Noting a lack of prior research into the process by which start-ups embed into an existing business network, this book presents examples from countries such as Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands and China to analyse the emergence and evolution of start-up business networks.

Table of contents

Front Matter
Pages i-xv

Introduction: Starting Up in Business Networks—Why Relationships Matter in Entrepreneurship
Pages 1-16

Starting Up Business Relationships
Front Matter
Pages 17-17
1 Initiation of Business Relationships in Start Ups
Pages 19-39
2 Third Actors Initiating Business Relationships for a Medical Device Start Up: Effect on Network Embedding and Venture Creation Processes
Pages 41-73

Relationships Dynamics in New Business Development
Front Matter
Pages 75-75
3 Starting Up: Relating to a Context in Motion
Pages 77-105
4 When Start Ups Shift Network: Notes on Start Up Journey
Pages 107-136

Start Ups and Technological Collaboration in Industrial Networks
Front Matter
Pages 137-137
5 R&D Collaboration and Start Ups
Pages 139-170
6 Starting Up from Science: The Case of a University-Organised Commercialisation Project
Pages 171-198

Academic Spin-Offs and the Issue of Commercialising Science. Some Empirical Experiences
Front Matter
Pages 199-199
7 The Impact of a Start Up’s Key Business Relationships on the Commercialization of Science: The Case of Nautes
Pages 201-223
8 Start Ups as Vessels Carrying and Developing Science-Based Technologies: Starting and Restarting JonDeTech
Pages 225-252

Start Ups and the Role of Policy Actors
Front Matter
Pages 253-253
9 The Challenging Life of University Start Ups: The Different View of Value Creation in a Policy Setting Compared to a Business Setting
Pages 255-278
10 The Coordinating Role of Chinese Policy Actors in Developing New Biotechnology Start Up Companies to Promote Industrial Development
Pages 279-306

Back Matter
Pages 307-321