Heterogeneity in Academic Entrepreneurship: Classifying University-Based Startups and Establishing Everyday University Startups

This study explores the diverse landscape of academic entrepreneurship, focusing on the distinct support needs of academic spinoff startup types and a newly defined typology, everyday university startups. While academic spinoff startups, typically technology-driven and research-based, have been emphasized in previous research, everyday university startups, often founded by students or recent graduates with non-technological, social or sustainable business models, remain under-researched. Through a multiple case study of six university startup coaches and twelve university-based startups, we develop a novel classification framework to distinguish between academic spinoff startups, everyday university startups and two in-between typologies. This framework underpins our findings, which reveal significant differences in support needs, particularly in funding, marketing, strategy development, network access and team development. The findings challenge the dominant one-size-fits-all approach for university-based startup support, advocating for a more tailored and inclusive framework. This study offers crucial insights for university leaders and policymakers aiming to foster a robust and inclusive entrepreneurial university ecosystem that promotes entrepreneurial activity.