Digital startups in transition economies challenges for management, entrepreneurship and education

Digital Startups in Transition Economies Challenges for Management, Entrepreneurship and Education Agnieszka Skala Digital Startups in Transition Economies Agnieszka Skala Digital Startups in Transition Economies Challenges for Management, Entrepreneurship and Education Agnieszka Skala Faculty of Management Warsaw University of Technology Warsaw, Poland ISBN 978-3-030-01499-5    ISBN 978-3-030-01500-8 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01500-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018958887 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019 This work is subject to copyright All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Cover illustration: © John Rawsterne/patternhead.com This Palgrave Pivot imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Dedicated to Polish startupers Contents 1 The Startup as a Result of Innovative Entrepreneurship   1 1.1 Entrepreneurship and Innovation  3 1.2 Innovative Entrepreneurship in the Digital Revolution Era  8 1.3 Startups: Literature Research 14 1.4 Startup Definition: A Discussion 24 1.5 Spiral Definition of a Startup 26 1.6 Chapter Summary 31 References 33 2 Characteristics of Startups  41 2.1 Desk Research: Literature Review 42 2.2 Own Research: “Polish Startups” 56 2.3 Own Research: Startups in the Visegrád Group Countries 71 2.4 The Main Characteristics Differentiating Startups 78 2.5 The Characteristics of Startups Using the “Spiral Definition of a Startup” and the Main Differentiating Variables 83 2.6 Chapter Summary 87 References 89 3 Startups as a Challenge for Management and Education  93 3.1 Contemporary Challenges for Management 95 3.2 The Tradition of Management in Poland 98 3.3 Startups as a Challenge for Management100 vii viii  Contents 3.4 Lean Startup as a Proposal for the Methodology of Managing Startup Development102 3.5 Management Education112 3.6 Education for Entrepreneurship115 3.7 Education for Startups122 3.8 Chapter Summary132 References134 Conclusions 147 Index 157 List of Figures Fig 1.1 Fig 1.2 Fig 1.3 Fig 1.4 Fig 2.1 Fig 2.2 Fig 2.3 Fig 3.1 Fig 3.2 Fig 3.3 Fig 3.4 Startups in the framework of contemporary forms of entrepreneurship (Source: Own material based on Cieślik 2014a)13 Spiral definition of a startup (Source: Own material) 27 “Falling out” of the startup spiral (Source: Own material) 29 The algorithm for identifying a startup based on the spiral definition of a startup (Source: Own material) 31 Startup segments based on segmentation analysis (Source: Own material) 82 Groups on the startup spiral, according to the “Polish Startups” study 2017 (Source: Own material) 85 Startups at various stages of development according to the main differentiating variables (% of the group reporting the attribute) (Source: Own material) 86 Components of the Lean Startup methodology (Source: Own material)103 The relationship between the results of the startup and the volume of feedback (Source: Own material based on Ladd et al 2015) 107 Model of the education for startups (Source: Own material based on: Wach 2014a) 124 The main elements of the curriculum of classes on startup management (Source: Own material) 127 ix List of Tables Table 1.1 Table 1.2 Table 1.3 Table 2.1 Table 2.2 Table 2.3 Table 2.4 Table 2.5 Table 2.6 Table 2.7 Table 2.8 Table 2.9 Table 2.10 Table 3.1 Forms of technological entrepreneurship in the digital revolution era Understanding the concept of “startup” in the ten most cited articles with “startup” as a topic, based on the Web of Science Core Collection Key startup features according to the discussed definitions Selected publications of applied startup studies’ results The results of the Global Startup Ecosystem 2015 ranking Comparison of three categories of startups Stages of the “Polish Startups” research project Main characteristics of the study and the surveyed startups— data indicators from the “Polish Startups” study Auxiliary hypotheses and the results of their verification in the “Polish Startups” study in 2017 Conditions for the functioning of startups in the Visegrád countries (2016)—macroeconomic data Strengths and weaknesses of startup ecosystems in the Visegrád countries Startup groups according to the criteria used for division The percentage of startups reporting the main differentiating attributes in each group Selected entrepreneurship “myths” 12 18 22 46 49 56 58 66 67 72 79 84 85 120 xi Introduction The presented work responds to the growing demand for a scientific approach to the phenomenon of startups (alternative spelling: start-up), which are a manifestation of the digital revolution and an economy based on innovation in the broadly understood use of information and communication technologies (ICT) The work discusses the economic phenomenon consisting in the emergence of this new form of organisation, presents the changes that accompany it, and indicates possible directions for further research in this area Taking up this subject was motivated by discovering the existence of a knowledge gap, manifested in an ambiguous understanding of the concept of “a startup” in the literature of the subject That’s why the results of research on startups are often incomparable, and the knowledge about startups is incomplete and fragmentary At the same time, the hopes associated with the development of startups, understood as organisations initiating and commercialising innovations, are significant The new, digitally advanced economy based on innovation is supposed to stimulate the sluggish and weakened by the financial crisis economies of developed countries, and startups are to be the agent of this positive change The definition dispute on what a “startup” is (and what it is not) is also ongoing in the business and investor community, as well as among the business environment institutions Therefore, resolving this issue is not only scientifically important, but also significant from the point of view of business practice, because the scope and form of support provided to startups by various organisations, including public institutions, depend on the adopted interpretation of the “startup” notion xiii  CONCLUSIONS  151 –– the founders of startups are more and more often people who have reached a certain level of life maturity and professional experience; –– external financing of startups is clearly getting postponed, and the funds obtained from investors are used to, first of all, employ new specialists, an increasingly more difficult challenge for the founders –– import of human resources is increasing, which stimulates the low cultural diversity of founding teams in Poland and increases the international opening of Polish startups; –– export is the most effective way to accelerate the development and success of a startup; • on the basis of in-depth segmentation analysis, it can be said that the features that most strongly differentiate between groups of Polish startups include B2B production, obtaining external funding, export, hardware production, and collaboration with science  and multinational corporations; • on the basis of the spiral definition of a startup and segmentation analysis, in-depth analysis of startups at four stages of development has been carried out, and specific features dominating at each of the stages have been indicated; • the startup culture, including the particularly important role of startup communities, is a very important element of the startup entrepreneurship ecosystem; • this culture is different from the traditional business culture rooted in Poland, which so far has not been conducive to a rapid adoption of startups, neither in the business community nor in academia; • the greatest progress can be observed in the process of bringing startups closer to the political and self-government spheres, which is the result of the successful operation of the Startup Poland Foundation created by the Polish startup community; • conceptualisation of the startup management methodology is a serious challenge for management science, and the current scientific literature in this area is modest and lacks theoretical grounding; • fundamental definition problems contribute to the low involvement and low degree of exploration of startups by management sciences; • education for the development of startup entrepreneurship is critically important for properly functioning startup ecosystems It requires, on the one hand, specialist knowledge and skills on the part 152  A SKALA of the educators, and, on the other hand, high engagement of the relevant populations (pupils, students, entrepreneurs); • the biggest challenge in education for startup entrepreneurship is presented by the so-called soft areas of education (in other words, individual education); • in Poland, education for startups is becoming the domain of institutions outside the formal education system, especially the public education system As to the implications of the appearance of startups for management science and for entrepreneurship education (see Chap 3), they can be presented as follows: • Conceptualisation of an effective startup management methodology is a serious challenge for management science The current scientific literature in this area is small and lacks theoretical grounding, while fundamental definition-related problems contribute to the modest levels of exploration of startups by management science Startups, as a new form of organisation, are a challenge for traditional methods and tools of venture management and create a climate for the development of entrepreneurship which is different from one that has been rooted in Poland Traditions originating in large manufacturing industry, family businesses, and small-scale artisanal production, as well as the intuitive management of the systemic transformation era, clash with the startup culture which is open, community-focused, and energetic, but also nomadic and labile, and uses a hermetic jargon On the one hand, these attributes of startup culture are a source of its strength and potential, and, on the other hand, they can be a barrier for its rapid adaptation and development in Poland The startup culture, which includes the particularly important role of local communities, is an important element of the startup entrepreneurship ecosystem, but its dissimilarity to the business culture rooted in Poland so far has not been conducive to the rapid adaptation of startups in the business community or in the academia The greatest progress can be observed in the process of bringing startups closer to the political and self-government sphere, which is the result of the successful operation of the Startup Poland Foundation—a grassroots initiative initiated by the startup community  CONCLUSIONS  153 • Worldwide, the new management methodology exemplified by Lean Startup has so far been a subject of a limited interest from the scientific community The theoretical foundations of this method, which are insufficiently well grounded in science, lead to disputes and discussions about the importance and durability of this direction in management, and the methods used in Lean Startup, considered to be not serious by many, sometimes invoke disrespectful attitudes The lack of reliable data on the importance of startups for the economy and the recurring motif of waiting for or predicting another high-tech market bubble contribute to those attitudes It can be stated that the promising direction for further research include, on the one hand, developing a coherent and credible theoretical basis for a new startup management methodology, and, on the other hand, creating a common methodical framework for identifying this market and metrics that will describe it, especially in terms of its importance for the broadly understood economy and social development • Education for the development of startup entrepreneurship is critically important for properly functioning startup ecosystems It requires, on the one hand, specialist knowledge and skills on the part of educators, and, on the other hand, high engagement of the educated population (pupils, students, and entrepreneurs) There are many indications that this education has been, so far, the weakest element in the startup entrepreneurship ecosystem in Poland The so-called soft areas of education (in other words, individual education) present the greatest challenge In Poland, education for startups is becoming the domain of institutions outside the education system, especially the public education system This does not mean that there are no excellent initiatives in the field of education for entrepreneurship and for startups—on the contrary, more and more such projects appear However, the scope and strength of these activities must be considered as very inadequate The examples and best practices in this field, indicated in the dissertation, may provide an inspiration and guidance for educators interested developing in this direction Startups, startup management, and education for startup entrepreneurship are new research areas within the discipline of management sciences Such a situation primarily creates an opportunity for methodological work, 154  A SKALA consisting in developing pioneering research methods adapted to the specifics of the studied objects and phenomena Therefore, the following areas for further research are worth considering: • mechanisms of an organisation “falling out” beyond the spiral definition of a startup (and “falling into” it), that is, the processes of transforming startups into other organisations; it is worth investigating cases of this type and observing the factors determining these mechanisms and trying to systematise them; • improvement of the startup identification methodology; • research on the impact of startups on the selected sectors of the economy, for example, banking, financial, medical sectors; • startup competition strategies; • conceptualisation of new startup management methodologies; • conceptualisation of new education methodologies for startup entrepreneurship; • communities as a key element of startup culture; • the survival of startups and the most important factors determining this survival; • developing a method for estimating the impact of startups on the economy and/or on the level of innovation in the economy In Poland there are favourable conditions for further development of research on startups, among which the following are worth mentioning: • the startup community in Poland is dense, active, and known internationally; it also attracts startups from the neighbouring countries (especially from Ukraine) and from the region; it is evidenced by Google’s decision to launch in Poland one of its only six spaces for startups worldwide (three are in Europe): “Campus Warsaw”; • Poland’s debut in the role of the coordinator of the first joint research on startups in the Visegrad Group countries is conducive to maintaining its regional research leadership in this area in the future; • a grassroots initiative of the startups community in the form of a foundation has proved its worth: Startup Poland is an institution that effectively implements the goal of making as many stakeholders as possible aware of the importance and potential of startups in Poland; the foundation is currently an important link in the startup ecosystem, for whom reliable scientific data is the source of arguments and acquisition of such data is in its interest  CONCLUSIONS  155 It is highly probable that there will occur a further, dynamic development of startups and the startup ecosystem in Poland  (and other post-­ transition countries), which is currently the main source of top-class programmers in the world Thanks to well-thought-out but at the same time bold changes in the field of education and the shaping of business culture, it is possible to take advantage of the opportunity not only to create more startups in Poland, but above all to make them better prepared to compete effectively on the global market To this end, reliable research should be continued and an effective education system for startup entrepreneurship should be built Index1 NUMBERS AND SYMBOLS 4Decision, 131 A Academic Business Incubators, 8n3 Acceleration, 8, 8n5, 19, 107, 130, 131 Access to broadband Internet in the Visegrád countries, 73; data, 44; information, 105; qualified workforce, 65; specialist infrastructure, 56; specific resources, 3, 7; startup funding, 53; technology, 25 Agile product development, 103, 104 Airbnb, 8, 12, 19, 28 Airly, xiv Algorithmisation, 16, 28, 149 Algorithms, 9, 31, 32, 149 Allegro, 4, 33 Amazon, 16, 97 Ambitious and dynamic (larger) business, Apple, 28, 97 Artificial intelligence (AI), 12, 52 Aspen Institute Central Europe, 71 Audible, Audioteka, 4, 28, 33 Aula Polska, 59n11 Aulery, 60 Automater.pl, 16 Automation, 9, 12, 16, 25, 28, 96, 148 Aviva, xiv B Bank, xiv, 8, 44 Banking, 154 Big companies data, 10, 64, 69, 96 ideas, 116  Note: Page numbers followed by ‘n’ refer to notes © The Author(s) 2019 A Skala, Digital Startups in Transition Economies, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01500-8 157 158  INDEX Bitcoin, BitMarket, Blockchain, BNP Paribas, xiv “Boiled frog syndrome,” 95 Bootstrapping, 45 Bots, Brainly, 28 Brand24, 28 Build-measure-learn loop, 109 Business angel, 44, 66, 77, 105 culture, 100, 124, 132, 151, 152, 155 development, 16, 81 education, 112, 113, 121, 123 environment, xiii, 7, 19, 21, 32, 71, 123 growth, hypotheses, 15, 105, 110, 122, 127, 129, 150 ideas, 25 in the high-tech industry, 18 link, 8n3 management, xiv, 95, 123 model canvas, 103, 126, 130 modelling, 103, 106, 111, 123, 126, 127, 130 models, 2, 8n5, 10, 15, 16, 18–20, 24–30, 32, 46, 47, 53, 55, 60, 63, 77, 83, 95, 101–105, 107, 108, 110, 123, 129, 148, 150 plan, 100, 101, 104, 110, 123, 126 practice, xiii, 42, 97, 117 processes, 25, 95 support institutions, -to-business model (so-called B2B), 64, 66, 80, 81, 83–85 C Campus Warsaw, xiv, 154 Case studies, xv, 6, 109, 115, 128–131 Centrally planned economy, 99 Chatbot, Ciufcia.pl, 30 Cloud, 12 Client-problem-solution triad (C-P-S), 129 Cluster, 7, 80, 81, 118 analysis, 78, 80 Clustering, 78, 80 Co-financing, 8, 66 Co-founder, 19, 60, 61, 68 Coinroom, Commercialisation of inventions, Company shareholders, 25, 96 size, 7, 111 valuation, 17, 24, 32, 52 Compass, 45, 46, 48, 48n2 Competition, 8, 8n2, 10, 10–11n7, 11, 20, 25, 60, 61, 107, 154 Conceptualisation of the startup management methodology, 151 Corporate Venturing, 8, 13 Corporations, xiv, 3, 5, 7, 8, 8n4, 11, 16, 28, 29, 31–33, 46, 48, 52, 53, 64, 77, 104–106, 111, 112, 116, 123 Crab, 30 Craft, 2, 132 Creative destruction, Crowdfunding, 77, 79 Crunchbase, 14, 44, 44n1, 47 Cryptocurrencies, Curriculum, 115, 125, 126 of classes, 127, 133 Customer categories development, 103, 104, 130 discovery, 131 segment, 27, 77 Customers, xiv, 9, 10, 12, 16, 17, 19, 24, 25, 27, 28, 30, 32, 54, 55, 63, 64, 66, 69, 73, 77, 82, 83, 96, 101–105, 107, 108, 110, 129, 148  INDEX  Czech Republic, 42, 58, 71–77, 79 startups, 42, 58, 71–74, 76, 77 Czechs, 72–74, 77 D Data mining, 10 Dematerialisation and virtualisation of the economy, 95 Demo Day, 130, 131 Deregulation, 11, 11n7 Design4Europe, 131 Desk research, xv, xvi, 42–56 Digital age banking, 73 business, 105 economy, 9n6, 54, 60; Laboratory of the University of Warsaw (DELab UW), 62 ecosystems, 62 entrepreneurs, 13 entrepreneurship, 12, 43 exclusion, 79 habits, 71 industry, 2, 21, 43, 44, 55, 69, 78, 88, 106, 110, 129, 149, 150 market, 20 platform, 16 revolution, xiii, 9, 11, 12; era, 8–14 startups, 43, 44, 55, 56, 60, 63n14, 130 technologies, 10, 12, 33, 42, 43, 46, 107; entrepreneurship, 12, 43, 123 Digitisation, 9–12, 73, 95 Disruption phenomena, 28 Disruptive innovation, 11, 17, 106 Doing business, 12, 28, 33, 60, 71, 74, 79, 96 Dotcom bubble, 111 Dropbox, 12, 19 Duckie Deck, 30 159 E eBay, 4, 9n6, 16 E-commerce, 66, 73, 79 Economics activity, 75, 99 development, xv, 2, 4–6, 72 education, 123 growth, 2, 6, 79, 97, 122 phenomenon, xiii, 21, 32 policy, 4, 6, 98 potential, 79 practice, 121 system, 10 Economists, 111 Economy and culture, 115 of Poland and the region, 57 Ecosystems of innovative entrepreneurship, 32 in Poland, 134, 153, 155 Education in economics, 112; the field of management and entrepreneurship, 113 for entrepreneurship: startup entrepreneurship, 15, 123, 133, 151–155; startups, 123, 151, 153 programs for startup entrepreneurship, 15, 149 system, 54, 124, 134, 152, 153, 155 Educational institutions process, 117 programs, 8n5, 87, 88, 117, 119, 123–126, 129, 131 workshops for startups, 131 Educator, xvi, 59, 114, 115, 126, 128, 152, 153 EduTech, xivn1 Effectuation, 110, 122–124, 133 E-learning platform, 126 160  INDEX Electronics, 9, 12, 14, 51, 64, 69 Elevator pitch/pitch, 130, 131 Employment rate, 72 in startups, 54 Enea Innovation, xiv Entrepreneurial academic, 118 alertness, 7, 33 ambitions, behaviours, 5, 120 ecosystems, 71 initiatives, 3, 118, 119 mindset, 121 organisation, 119, 120 teaching, 121 Entrepreneurs, 2–4, 6, 7, 9n6, 10, 12, 13, 15, 19–22, 30, 32, 41, 44, 45, 48, 53, 59, 74, 88, 94, 98–101, 103–106, 108, 110–112, 115–120, 122–123, 127, 128, 130–132, 134n10, 148, 152, 153 as an individual, 3, Entrepreneurship, xvi, 1–15, 17 attitudes, xv courses at universities, 115 curricula, 115 economy and culture, 115 education, xv, 94, 106, 113–119, 121–123, 124n6, 125, 129, 152 in Poland: the era of the digital revolution, 8–14; field of digital technologies, 12 mentality, 100 policy, research, 4, 95 system, xv universities, 118 Estimote, 19 Ethereum, European Commission, 20, 23 Union, 78 Evenea, Eventbrite, Excubation, Experimentation, 109, 110 Exporters, 65, 67, 78, 79, 82 Exporting startups, 67 Exports, 54–56, 63, 65–68, 70, 72, 75, 77–81, 83–85, 87, 150, 151 External financing, 28, 65, 70, 77, 81–83, 85, 86, 151 F FabLab Polska by Orange, xiv Facebook, 9n6, 28, 33, 61 Failure, 24, 54, 105, 118, 120 Feedback, xv, 105, 107, 108, 122 Feeldate, 131 Filmaster, xiv, 33 Financial crisis, xiii, 31, 96 industry, xiv FinTech, xiv Flipped classroom, 127 Flywithmonkey.com, 131 Founder, 4, 15, 20, 24, 25, 30, 44, 50, 51, 53, 54, 59, 61, 64, 66, 70, 76, 79, 94, 101, 104, 107, 108, 130, 150, 151 Fourth industrial revolution, 11 Funding, 16, 21, 25, 46, 49, 50, 52–55, 63, 66, 70, 77, 79–81, 84, 85, 87, 106, 107, 125, 129, 149–151 Funds, xiv, 6, 8n5, 9n6, 15, 44, 47, 48, 51, 52, 61, 66, 74, 77, 79, 104, 105, 123, 125, 148, 150, 151 G Gastronauci.pl, 30 Geek Girls Carrots, 29 German Startup Association, 45, 47, 53  INDEX  “Get out of the building,” 122, 127, 131 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Innovation Index (GII), 71, 75, 79 Startup Ecosystem, 46, 48–51 target market, 56 traction, 71 Globalisation, 11, 113 Google, xiv, 33, 46, 79, 97, 113, 132, 154 Poland, 79, 132, 154 Gross domestic product (GDP) growth, 72 per capita, 6, 72 Grupa Pracuj, 30 H Hackaton, 8, 8n2 Hanbright, 30 Hardware, 13, 51, 64, 66, 80–87, 151 Harvard Business School, 16, 17, 108, 115 High initial expenditure, 56 High-tech, 18, 24, 59, 60, 62, 132, 153 Hub:raum Kraków, xiv HumanWay, 30 Hungarian Startups, 71 Hungary, 42, 58, 71–79 Hyper-scalability, 24, 27, 28, 30, 32, 46, 55, 148, 150 Hyper-scalable organisation, 26 startup, 26 I Icount, 131 Imitations, 4, 117 Imitators, 3–4 Imports, 70, 72, 150, 151 161 Incubation, 8, 8n3 programs, 8n3 Incubators for startups, 14 at universities, 65 Incumbents, 3, 5, Individual education, 124, 133, 152, 153 Industrial property rights, 69 Industry 4.0, 11 Innoshare, 59n11 Innovation-Driven Enterprises (IDEs), 20 Innovations ecosystem, xvi Nest Entrepreneurship School SPIN, 129–132 Innovative business model, 25, 27, 30, 47, 53, 123 entrepreneurs, 2, entrepreneurship, xv, 1–33 fast-growing enterprises, product, 24, 25 solutions, 7, 21, 27, 74 technological company, 20 wave, 3, 10 Innovativeness, 57 Innovators, 3–4, 126 and imitators, 3–4 Instant sale, 56 InsurTech, xivn1 Intellectual property, 75, 96 management, 96 Internet access, 73 -based service, 12 bubble, 10 industries, 20 of Things, 12, 64, 69 Intrapreneurship, 113 Investment, xiv, 3, 20, 44, 46, 50–52, 72, 76, 79, 123, 131 162  INDEX Investors, xiii, 9n6, 15, 19, 21, 22, 32, 41, 44, 48, 50, 65, 70, 81, 82, 96, 104, 105, 116, 122, 127, 130, 131, 148, 150, 151 “Islands of knowledge,” 118 IT and ICT industries, 56, 147 Iterative methods of product development, 109 J Jumbster, 131 K Koala bear, 30 KPMG, 45, 46, 48 Kraken, Krakow Technology Park, 132 L Lean Startup, 132 concept, 102, 110 management concept, 15, 94 methodology, 18, 102–112, 129, 132 philosophy, 109 as a startup management methodology, 94, 103, 104, 107, 123, 132, 153 Learning by doing method, 113, 115 cycle, 109 -focused attitudes, 122 process, 80, 126 Lifelong learning, 133 LiveChat, 28 M Machine to machine (M2M), 11 Mamapożycza.pl, 131 Management and business education, 113, 123 culture, 99 and education, xv, 93–134, 153 education, xvi, 94, 112–115 and entrepreneurship, xvi, 1, 94, 149 of an innovative, ambitious enterprise, 98 methodology, xvi, 94, 103, 104, 107, 123, 132, 133, 151–154 methods, 95, 97, 100, 104, 123 model, 102 paradigms, 95 in Poland, 98–100, 132 practices, 94, 95, 111, 113 science, xvi, 94, 95, 100, 110, 112, 132, 151–153 as a scientific discipline, 97, 100 team, 101 theory and practice, 94, 103 Managers, 12, 62, 96, 97, 104, 108, 111, 112, 123 in organisations, 96 Market conditions, 24, 25, 128 -disruptive situations, 32 -dominant corporations, 11 entrants, 3, environment, 28, 148, 150 experiment, 24 niches, 7, 28 opportunity, 3, 5, 7, 17 paradigms, 17 players, 7, 10n7, 20 success, 4, 10 value, 3, 27 Marketing, xivn1, 62, 64, 68, 95, 103 MarTech, xivn1 Mass customisation, 10 MedTech, xivn1 Mentoring, 65, 125, 128 Microsoft, 28, 97  INDEX  Migam.pl, xiv MIT Entreprise Forum, xiv MoneyTree Report, 46, 51–52 MOOC formula (massive open online course), 105 MVP (minimum viable product) concept, 110, 130 MyGuid.ie, 30 “Mythology of entrepreneurship,” 119 Myths, 99, 117, 119, 120, 128 N NASSCOM, 45, 47 National Chamber of Commerce, 132 National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, 126 National Court Register (KRS), 59–61 NCBR, 61 Neoclassical approach to business, 100 Netflix, 97 Netguru, 33 Network, 4, 8n3, 25, 62, 67, 88, 123, 124n6, 131 New-technology-based firms (NTBFs), 43, 55 O Onet.pl, 29, 33 Online education, 113 Open innovation, 109 Organisation, 4, 7, 12, 15–18, 25–29, 31, 32, 42, 45, 71, 88, 89, 95, 100–103, 106, 111, 115, 119, 120, 122, 132, 133, 150 Organisational structures, 7, 105 Out of the box thinking, 113 163 P PARP, 20, 61 Patent, 44, 63, 65, 66, 69, 74, 77, 79, 85, 86 related activity, 84 Patentable, 69 “Pay it forward,” 88 PayPal, 19 Personal education, 15, 107 Peter Drucker Forum, 111 PGNiG, xiv Pitch, see Elevator pitch/pitch Pivot, 45, 106, 110 PKO Bank Polski Capital Group, xiv PKP S.A., xiv Placechallenge, 131 PocketPill, 131 Polish Chamber of Commerce, 132 Classification of Activities (PKD), 59 companies, 96 digital industry, 57, 149 economy, 57 enterprises, 98 entrepreneurship, 88, 99 market, 67 startup community: ecosystem, 57, 132; scene, 57 startups, xv, xvi, 16, 19, 28, 31, 42, 47, 56–71, 78, 83, 85, 134, 149 ventures, 77 PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), 48, 51–53, 96 Privacy Protector, 131 Problem-based learning, 114, 115 Product-market fit, 19, 106 Programmers, 9n6, 29, 68, 102, 106, 155 Prototype, 65, 127, 128 Prototyping, 83 Public procurements, 65, 69 PZU SA, xiv 164  INDEX Q Quotiss, 131 R Reaktor Warsaw, 132 ReaktorX, 59n11 REGON register, 59 Renaissance of consumer sovereignty, 11 Research centres, 42, 75, 85 and development (R&D), 3, 7, 43, 62, 70, 74, 75, 77, 79 and education, 118 gap, 57 goals, xvi, 32, 116 institutes, 31, 70, 97 methodology, 78 methods and tools, object, 154 objectives, xv, 55, 150 problem, 57, 148 process, project, xv, xvi, 42, 53, 57–59, 63, 76, 87, 149, 150 of a quantitative and qualitative nature, 57 questionnaire, 57 questions, xvi, 58 report, 57, 149 results, 2, 42 stage, 58 on startups: management and business education, 113; management education, 114; market and transactions, 48 topics, 55 Resources, 3, 7, 11, 17, 21, 22, 24–27, 29, 30, 32, 41, 63, 65–70, 73, 76, 88, 89, 95–97, 99–101, 105, 108, 111, 120, 122, 125, 130, 148, 150, 151 Respondents in Poland, 76 in V4 countries, 79 Revenue leverage, 46, 52 model, 28, 102 Revenues, 19, 24, 27, 28, 32, 46, 52, 63–67, 69, 73, 78, 83, 84, 86, 87, 101, 148 “Rigour-relevance debate,” 112 Risk, 4, 16, 21, 24, 25, 54, 101, 110, 116 management, 101 Robotisation, Roland Berger, 45, 47 S Samba TV, xiv Scalability of the business model, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 46, 148; enterprise, 2, 11, 16, 20, 21, 24, 25, 30, 95, 101 ScatchApp, 131 “Schumpeterian” entrepreneurship, 117 Scientific management, 97, 100 Segmentation analysis, 42, 78, 80, 82, 88, 149, 151 SEIPA, 124n6, 126 -Warsaw University of Technology, 126 Self-organising Kohonen networks, 78, 80 employment, Silicon Valley, 15, 49–52, 55, 106 Slovak Alliance for the Innovative Economy:SAPIE.sk, 71 Slovakia, 42, 58, 71–74, 76, 77, 79 Small business, 4, 5, 113, 116, 118, 123 Smolna Entrepreneurship Center, 132 Snapchat, 12, 28  INDEX  Social entrepreneurship, 14, 116 Socio-economic transformation, 99 Software companies, 18 is eating the world, industry, 109 as a Service (SaaS), 66 SPIN Innovation Nest Entrepreneurship School, 129–132 Spiral definition of a startup, 26–32, 83–88, 105, 149, 151, 154 SquareIt! or Borrowl.com, 131 Startups accelerator, xiv, 19 base, 31 as a beginner enterprise, 17, 33; innovative technological company, 20; a manifestation of innovative entrepreneurship, 1; philosophy of doing business, 28, 33; specific form of organisation, 42 categories, 2, 55, 56 as a Challenge for Management and Education, 93–134 character, 28, 33 characteristics, 17 clusters, 81 communities, xiv, xv, 45, 48n2, 53, 54, 57–59, 63, 65, 71, 76, 105, 124, 129, 131, 133, 147, 149–152, 154; jargon, 45, 152 competitions, 60, 61, 154 creators, 15 culture, 28, 33, 59, 132, 133, 151, 152, 154 database, 63 definition, xvi, 1, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22–27, 31, 32, 42, 45, 46, 52, 87, 133, 147, 148 165 development, 26, 32, 33, 48, 102–112, 149; process, ecosystem, 15, 33, 42, 45–54, 57, 79, 87, 88, 94, 132, 134, 151, 153–155 entrepreneurship, xv, xvi, 15, 57, 123, 133, 149, 151–155 environment, 8, 19 events, xiv, 106 features, 21–23 Fest, 45, 46 founders, 51, 64, 66, 76, 94, 104, 130 funding, 52–54 generation, 64 group, 84, 85 is growth, 19, 26, 32 industries, customers and markets, 54 life cycle, 26 management, xvi, 89, 100, 104, 111, 126–129, 132, 133, 151–154 nation, 47 organisational culture, 42 organisations, 45 phenomenon, 2, 32 Poland foundation, xv, xvi, 42, 57, 59, 60, 63, 71, 78, 88, 149–152 rule, 88 segments, 82 shareholders, 51 spiral, 29, 30, 83–85 teams, 107 various stages of development, 86, 149, 151 at various stages of development, 86, 130 in the Visegrád Group countries, 71–78, 154 Weekend, 59n11, 60, 79, 131; Next, 59n11 166  INDEX STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education, 75n17 graduates, 75 Strong leadership, 25, 32, 33, 56 Success stories, 53 Sugentum, 131 Sybarite, 30 T Takeover, xiv, 7, Takeovers of existing startups, xiv Targowa Creativity Center, 132 Team, 7, 14, 17, 25, 30, 32, 50, 53–55, 95, 101, 107, 114n4, 125, 128, 130, 131, 134, 150, 151 building, 83, 101, 120 Technical revolution, 11 Technological entrepreneurship, 12, 21, 133 Technology transfer, Teleport.me, 131 “Third generation university,” 118 Timeself, 131 T-Mobile, xiv Top Coder, 50n4 Trade balance, 72 Triple helix, 118 TVN Ventures, xiv U Uber, 8, 16 Uncertain, changing environment, 56 Uncertainty, 11, 16, 54, 101, 105, 109, 110, 123, 148, 150 Unemployment, 72, 79 Unicorn, 6, 52, 79 UniwersytetDzieci.pl, 131 Unpatentability, 69 V V4 countries group, 74 region, 75 Value proposition, 25, 101, 108, 127 canvas, 103 Venture capital (VC), 6, 9n6, 18, 44, 46–48, 50–53, 61, 66, 76, 77, 79, 105 Verification of business hypotheses, 107 Visegrád countries, 71–79 group, 76 W Warsaw City Hall, xiv Warsaw Technological Space, 132 Waterfall management model, 102 Web of Science Core Collection, 17–19 Webankieta.pl, 62 Webflow, 131 Wilczek Act, 99 Winner-takes-all strategy, 11 Winnie the Pooh, 30 WIPA, 124–126, 124n6 Witelo, xiv World Bank, 71, 74 Y YCombinator, 8n5, 19 Z Zalando, 51, 51n5 ZenCard, xiv Znanylekarz.pl, 28 Zomato, 30 .. .Digital Startups in Transition Economies Agnieszka Skala Digital Startups in Transition Economies Challenges for Management, Entrepreneurship and Education Agnieszka Skala... appear in other specialisations, for example, “MarTech” solutions for the marketing industry, “InsurTech” for insurance, “EduTech” for educational, “MedTech” for medical  Introduction  xv startups ... raised hopes in the context of increasing innovation and accelerating economic growth, especially in developed countries A lack of precision in formulating the criteria for distinguishing these