Do Academic Spin-Outs Differ and Does it Matter?
Centre for Technology Management (CTM) Working Paper, No. 2003/02
28 Pages Posted: 6 Sep 2011
Date Written: October 1, 2003
Abstract
Questioning the widespread tendency to view academic spin-outs as a homogenous category, the paper explores typologies of these companies using a Penrosean conceptualisation of entrepreneurial activity. We initially identify five main types of business activities pursued by academic entrepreneurs, which we revise after analysing a database of Cambridge University spin-outs and real-time exemplars of emerging ventures. The refined typology takes into account the dynamic of the entrepreneurial process. As the business models of ventures evolve they may enter a different category of business activity. We conclude by discussing the academic and practical needs for a better understanding of the heterogeneity of spin-outs, the diversity of which has theoretical and policy implications.
Keywords: University spin-outs, academic entrepreneurship, new ventures, entrepreneurial process, business model evolution, Penrosian resource theory
JEL Classification: D21, L23, M13
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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