Startup Portfolio Management

Abstract: Despite decades of entrepreneurship research, scholars still strive to identify factors for startup success and failure and understand how entrepreneurial ecosystems affect startup performance. Previous studies have examined startup management practices but rarely explored startup project management. Recent research emphasizes the need to design NPD courses that meet practical demands, and there is growing interest in the content of entrepreneurship education that is relevant for new venture creation. This research focused on five questions to address the gaps: 1) Why do some early-stage startups succeed while others fail in the U.S. and Israel? We identified key factors affecting startup survival or a negative closure and a pattern of necessary but insufficient factors for successful M&A exits. 2) What is the impact of venture capital and government grants on early-stage startup economic and employee growth in the U.S., Israel, and Thailand? We identified the impact of venture capital on startup growth and government grants on startup development. 3) What is the relevance of the CCPM method for early-stage startup project management? We investigated the contribution of the CCPM method for the entire startup project and guided a startup company in planning and monitoring its project for half a year. 4) How can we improve the training of potential entrepreneurs? A new experiential learning approach for teaching MBA students was developed and successfully tested. This approach integrates theory and its implementation in startup companies. In addition, we investigated the contribution of product design and project management training performed for novice entrepreneurs for the first time. We found that certain aspects of the workshop were helpful for early-stage product and project development. 5) How can we facilitate a concise evaluation of a new product value proposition? A new tool was developed and successfully tested by MBA students collaborating with startup companies.