CHAPTER 15: TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Question 1

Name two basic and crucial things for being successful as a technology entrepreneur.

Answer 1

1: technology that is applicable and works in such a way that it can be used in products or services (usable technology).
2: market for the technology-based product or service (market need).

Question 2

Name two approaches to tech-entrepreneurship and what the paradox is.

Answer 2

1: start by developing a technology and then figure out how a business model can utilize the technology (tech comes before market).
2: start with the market and identify various unresolved market needs, then move on to develop a tech. solution (market comes before tech).

PARADOX: whether technology entrepreneurs start with technology or in the market: Technology or Market?

Question 3

Define, briefly, the term technology.

Answer 3

The utilization of knowledge and research for the purpose of changing and improving people’s lives.

Question 4

Why is technology entrepreneurship considered to be a special variant of entrepreneurship?

Answer 4

these opportunities are fostered through innovations in science and engineering. Tech entrepreneurship is concerned with tech innovations and the nascent markets and novel products they often enable.

Question 5

Why must technology entrepreneurship also be understood in a contemporary light?

Answer 5

a new technology is being demanded by those who use the existing technology. So, as opposed to the technology hub, where technology is first developed and then pushed out to consumers through commercialisation, technology traits are now being characterised by consumers demanding a technology that is then developed.
This is a result of digitalisation and social media development (Giones& Brem, 2017)

Question 6

What are three distinctions of technology entrepreneurship?

Answer 6

1. Technology entrepreneurship, based on scientific breakthroughs, such as drones.
2. Digital technology entrepreneurship, based on ICT technologies only, for example digital payment systems.
3. Digital entrepreneurship based on the internet, for example online stores.

Question 7

Different activities in the entrepreneurial process can be digitised to varying degrees. Name a few examples.

Answer 7

1. marketing (online marketing)
2. sales (online sales)
3. products and services (digital products)
4. distribution (digital delivery)
5. stakeholder management (digital interaction)
6. operations (virtual presence).

Digital marketing and digital sales are necessary activities, the other ones are more optional and depend on product and company type.

Question 8

Name a result of the digitalization of the entrepreneurial activities.

Answer 8

1. the possibility for standardization and scaling to a different magnitude than before. Digital technology entrepreneurship or digital entrepreneurship is a significant explanation for “Born Globals” (companies that have a global reach from the start).
2. allows for virtual operation (physical presence is of no importance).
3. created a community of digital nomads (ppl who travel and work as freelanceers).

Question 9

There are two key areas in which digital technology has changed entrepreneurship (Nambisan, 2017). Name which and how.

Answer 9

1. made the entrepreneurial process less bounded and more flexible. Possible to separate function from form and content from the physical medium. Product can be continuously developed and improves even after its introduction to the market (product or service always ‘incomplete’) Tesla example.
2. digital tech have made entrepreneurship more collective. Performed and collaborated on by a variety of actors, enables by digital infrastructures such as crowdfunding systems, ‘digital marketspaces’ and social media platforms.

Question 10

Name a few threats that comes with digitization.

Answer 10

1. greater uncertainty
2. shorter product lifecycles
3. greater danger of product substitutes
4. short term competitive advantages

Question 11

Describe the concept of ‘sharing economy’ and the three types of it.

Answer 11

… the act and process of distributing what is ours to others for their use as well as the act and process of receiving something from others for our use’ (Belk 2007: 126). What is mine is yours. The sharing economy is probably the result of the sustainability wave and is relevant in terms of saving the world’s resources.

1. digital content sharing: entrepreneurs can produce and distribute unlimited digital content without material costs or reducing quality but with limited effort.
2. physical product sharing: create an infrastructure for the sharing and trading of physical products. You probably already know of Airbnb, where people rent and rent out their private accommodation.
3. crowdfunding.

Question 12

Explain what is meant by ‘technology as external enabler’

Answer 12

‘New technologies bring in new opportunities with potential business value, low entry cost and greater flexibility, and they become sources of innovation ‘…’ leading to creative destruction of long-standing practices, transformation of existing industries and emergence of new ones’.

Question 13

Name three strategies in technology entrepreneurship.

Answer 13

1. The business model canvas (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010)
2. The market opportunity navigator (Gruber & Tal, 2017)
3. Lean startup (Ries, 2011).

Question 14

Describe the strategy ‘market opportunity navigator’ (where to play)

Answer 14

A macro perspective of the landscape of opportunities that guides the entrepreneur in how to prioritize and thus match technology with relevant opportunity creation. A tool for planning ‘emergence, evaluation, and organisation of opportunities’. The market opportunity navigator consists of three steps:

1) search broadly;
2) search deeply;
3) strategize smartly

Question 15

Describe ‘Lean Startup’.

Answer 15

Popular scientific and experimental method for business startup and product development (Ries, 2011). Purpose is to reduce development time and ensure that the business model for the startup product is sustainable. Achieved through iterative process. Like improvisation but with a systematic form of experimentation. Reduce waste of time and resources.

Question 16

What five principles is Lean Startup based on?

Answer 16

1) entrepreneurs are everywhere;
2) entrepreneurship is management;
3) validated learning;
4) innovation accounting;
5) build-measure-learn.

Question 17

What are the three F’s of financing?

Answer 17

Founder

Family

Friends
(Fools)
Love money. invest for altruistic reasons rather than economic calculations.

Question 18

Advantages and disadvantages of getting investment from business angels or venture capitalists?

Answer 18

Smart money. Money comes with knowledge and competence as well as involvement in the company.
Business angels = wealthy individuals often former entrepreneurs or executives.
Venture capitalists = invest significantly larger amounts than business angels. Solely interested in growth-oriented businesses. take large ownership stakes. Risk taking. Goal is to earn return during ownership and when stakes are sold to investors.

Question 19

What is crowdfunding?

Answer 19

initiative in which an individual raises capital by asking a crowd of people to make small to medium-sized investments in a startup project or business through an online platform. Most common forms are equity- or donation-based.

Question 20

Paradox: The technology perspective

Answer 20

to be successful = a technologically well developed product or service. Later a market is sought after. The right product or service sells itself. RISK: lack of capital, low demand. Challenge: where to stop development and start sales.

Question 21

Paradox: the market perspective

Answer 21

Market understanding crucial to success. Specific market need, technology is later founded to meet that need. Challenging: develop a product that actually meets the need and demand in the market. Competitor is faster and better.

Question 22

How does technology influence the entrepreneurial process? Discuss