The Evolution of Entrepreneurial Teams in University-based Spinouts

0322512 Sapienza Abstract

Title: The Evolution of Entrepreneurial Teams in University-based Spinouts

This research is a longitudinal study of entrepreneurial teams in university-based spinouts, designed to capture data at the birth of new organizations and then follow them as the management teams develop. Data will be collected over a 30 month period, on a sample of more than 100 spinout teams from a number of major American universities. This will provide rich data not only about teams that successfully create and manage spinouts, but also about teams that do not continue.

The theory-building part of the project will develop descriptive and normative theory applicable not only to university-based spinouts, but to the broader areas of the emergence of organizational purpose, new top management team development, and team formation in general. The theory-testing portion of the project will deepen theories of the effects of team composition on strategic direction and performance. By examining strategic decision processes during the dynamic process of entrepreneurial team and firm formation, we gain new insight not only into how decision routines are formed but also into the evolution of strategic purpose itself. The research team is comprised of scholars in entrepreneurship, strategy, and organizational theory with deep knowledge of cognitive theories, team processes, and new venture creation.

The broader impacts of the study are its significant implications in the technology transfer arena, which includes entrepreneurial firms, university incubators, policy makers, and regional economic development. Insight into how successful entrepreneurial teams are built will: (1) help technology-based entrepreneurs better foresee the likely outcomes of the choices they make while building an entrepreneurial team; and (2) inform the policies, funding, and advice by which governments, universities, and firms seek to improve technology transfer and commercialization efforts.