Co-Creating an Analytical Mindset at a Financial Technology Platform

Collaborations between researchers and businesses can significantly benefit both parties. However, it can be challenging for researchers to form lasting ties with businesses. The challenge is particularly salient for early career researchers who have yet to build track records and for new technology ventures that must carefully allocate their scarce resources. Our purpose is to articulate the benefits and key success factors of such researcher-venture collaborations. We do so with a case study of a now-prominent European crowdinvesting platform with which we have collaborated since its nascence. Our collaboration yielded significant impact for academia by advancing scholarly knowledge and for the venture through both concrete and intangible benefits. In addition to data and insight, the collaboration also introduced new practices in the venture’s data-driven decision making. Building on our experiences and interviews with key managers, we propose seven key success factors for mutually beneficial researcher-venture collaborations: pursuing collaborations proactively, cultivating agility, being physically present, respecting business priorities, communicating results promptly, translating research to business language, and leveraging institutional backing. We offer practical guidance for early career researchers on how to build successful collaborations with technology ventures. The study provides insights for ventures into the benefits of collaborating with researchers.