Analysis of startup stories through the lens of the external enabler framework

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is an important part of our economy as it is one of the driving factors of economic growth. Though research into how new businesses are created is not new, the beginnings of entrepreneurial research can be traced back to the 1970s with some suggesting it going back even further, the highly individualized nature of the topic makes it difficult to understand. The creation of the external enabler framework was an attempt to create a theoretical foundation for further research into the outside influences on new venture creation, which could offer the opportunity to influence and support new venture creation in ways previously not done, ideally resulting in more entrepreneurial activity. For this thesis, 119 startup stories were collected from the websites of mostly Finnish startups to do a qualitative analysis of them through the lens of the external enabler framework. The intent was to find out indications to what enablers were influencing the new venture creation process of the companies. The results are that new technologies and socio-cultural factors were mentioned regularly, especially sustainability was referred to often, followed by education centers. Other enablers such as funding and community events where found, but not with the same frequency. There were no mentions of political or regulatory forces. Multiple enablers mentioned by one startup was commonly found, but the implications of this are unclear and further research about this topic is needed. These results indicate that sustainability, other socio-cultural factors, and new technologies had to most influence on the new ventures analyzed. Education centers also had a significant role, they have the capability to develop new technologies and are probably the easiest factor to influence via governmental means, which makes them a good starting point for intervention.