Entrepreneurial capacity and the new technology-based small firm

Abstract

The development of a new technology small firm, such as a spin-off from a university or other public research provider, proceeds through a number of phases. The paper first discusses the concept of requisite holism as applied to the entrepreneurship involved in technological innovation through New Technology-based Small Firms. The various players involved in these various phases include the original “inventor”, technology transfer office staff, the technology champion, the new CEO or surrogate entrepreneur and the first investors). Each of these brings to the new venture specific and differing knowledge resources that are the key elements of the Penrosian bundle of resources that result in competitive advantage. In this paper the data from case studies of the early phases of development of Australian university spin-off companies have been used to explore the relevance of such knowledge resources as the entrepreneurial capacity of the new venture. This analysis supports the definition of entrepreneurial capacity as a set of disparate knowledge resources. Key words: Entrepreneurship, holism, innovation, spin-off.