Resource Acquisition in High-Tech Start-up Global Strategies

Abstract

The global strategies of high-tech start-ups fall into two types. One is characteristic of knowledge-based firms; the other is characteristic of knowledge-intensive firms. We present two propositions related to timing of globalization and resource acquisition for each type and examine four case studies from the region around Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.

Knowledge-based start-ups target global markets from the very beginning, aiming at rapid market penetration. From the start they are highly globalized in acquiring core technology and financial and human resources.

In contrast, knowledge-intensive start-ups start in local markets and initially restrict acquisition of core technology and financial and human resources to those markets. Only at a later stage, when the local business is solidly established, do they gradually expand their businesses to global markets.

Citation

Taji, N. (2014), "Resource Acquisition in High-Tech Start-up Global Strategies", Exploration and Exploitation in Early Stage Ventures and SMEs (Technology, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Competitive Strategy, Vol. 14), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 263-287. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-067X20140000014008