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Product strategies and startups' survival in turbulent industries: evidence from the security software industry

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  • Fosfuri, Andrea
  • Giarratana, Marco S.

Abstract

This paper seeks to explore the drivers of startups' survival in turbulent industries, characterized by high rates of entry and exit, fragmented market shares, and a rapid pace of product innovation. Specifically, the paper aims to underscore the role played by post-entry product strategies, along with their interaction, beyond that of pre-entry conditions. Based on a sample of 270 startups that entered the Security Software Industry from 1989 till 1998, we find evidence that surviving entities are those that more aggressively adopt versioning and product portfolio strategies. Interesting enough, strategic learning seems to play a major role: Focusing on one of the two product strategies commands a higher survival probability than adopting a mixed strategy.

Suggested Citation

  • Fosfuri, Andrea & Giarratana, Marco S., 2004. "Product strategies and startups' survival in turbulent industries: evidence from the security software industry," DEE - Working Papers. Business Economics. WB wb044816, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía de la Empresa.
    • Handle: RePEc:cte:wbrepe:wb044816
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    Cited by:

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    2. Grid Thoma & Salvatore Torrisi & Alfonso Gambardella & Dominique Guellec & Bronwyn H. Hall & Dietmar Harhoff, 2010. "Harmonizing and Combining Large Datasets - An Application to Firm-Level Patent and Accounting Data," NBER Working Papers 15851, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Henry Okwo & Charity Ezenwakwelu & Anthony Igwe & Benedict Imhanrenialena, 2019. "Firm Size and Age mediating the Firm Survival-Hedging Effect: Hayes’ 3-Way Parallel Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-17, February.
    4. Partanen, Jukka & Kohtamäki, Marko & Patel, Pankaj C. & Parida, Vinit, 2020. "Supply chain ambidexterity and manufacturing SME performance: The moderating roles of network capability and strategic information flow," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    5. Rui Baptista & Murat Karaöz & João Correia Leitão, 2020. "Diversification by young, small firms: the role of pre-entry resources and entry mistakes," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 103-122, June.
    6. Liu Li, 2020. "Trade-Off Exploration and Exploitation as Moderators: How does Technological Heterogeneity among Cooperators Affect Firms Financial Performance?," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 10(4), pages 380-398, April.
    7. Giarratana, Marco S. & Martínez Ros, Ester & Cesaroni, Fabrizio, 2010. "US market entry by Spanish pharmaceutical firms," DEE - Working Papers. Business Economics. WB wb101103, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía de la Empresa.
    8. Gambardella, Alfonso & Giarratana, Marco S., 2013. "General technological capabilities, product market fragmentation, and markets for technology," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 315-325.
    9. Nicoletta Corrocher & Marco Guerzoni, 2015. "Post-Entry Product Introduction: Who Explores New Niches?," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 18-36, January.
    10. Grid Thoma & Salvatore Torrisi, 2007. "Creating Powerful Indicators for Innovation Studies with Approximate Matching Algorithms. A test based on PATSTAT and Amadeus databases," KITeS Working Papers 211, KITeS, Centre for Knowledge, Internationalization and Technology Studies, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy, revised Dec 2007.
    11. Shanling Li & Jennifer Shang & Sandra A. Slaughter, 2010. "Why Do Software Firms Fail? Capabilities, Competitive Actions, and Firm Survival in the Software Industry from 1995 to 2007," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 21(3), pages 631-654, September.
    12. Marco Giarratana & Alessandra Perri, 2014. "Product and Marketing Actions in a Competitive Scenario," Working Papers 30, Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.
    13. Solís-Molina, Miguel & Hernández-Espallardo, Miguel & Rodríguez-Orejuela, Augusto, 2018. "Performance implications of organizational ambidexterity versus specialization in exploitation or exploration: The role of absorptive capacity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 181-194.
    14. Deng, Ziliang & Guo, Honglin & Zhang, Weifu & Wang, Chengqi, 2014. "Innovation and survival of exporters: A contingency perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 396-406.
    15. Castaldi Carolina & Mafini Dosso, 2018. "From R&D to market: using trademarks to capture the market capability of top R&D investors," JRC Working Papers on Corporate R&D and Innovation 2018-01, Joint Research Centre.
    16. Herz, Benedikt & Mejer, Malwina, 2019. "Effects of the European Union trademark: Lessons for the harmonization of intellectual property systems," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(7), pages 1841-1854.
    17. Melnyk, Valentyna & Giarratana, Marco & Torres, Anna, 2014. "Marking your trade: Cultural factors in the prolongation of trademarks," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(4), pages 478-485.
    18. Cesaroni, Fabrizio & Giarratana, Marco S. & Martínez-Ros, Ester, 2012. "Technological capabilities and cost efficiency as antecedents of foreign market entry," MERIT Working Papers 2012-049, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    19. Kummitha, Rama Krishna Reddy, 2018. "Entrepreneurial urbanism and technological panacea: Why Smart City planning needs to go beyond corporate visioning?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 330-339.

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