Founding Team and Start-up Competitive Advantage

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework to link founding team and start-up competitive advantage in the context of the Taiwanese technology-based ventures. Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyzes 211 start-ups in the technology-based sector and verifies the relationship between entrepreneur resources, trust, founding team partners` commitments, and start-up competitive advantage. Findings – In technology-based start-ups, the competitive advantage of a start-up is determined by the founding team partners` commitments and the resources that an entrepreneur possesses. Research limitations/implications – The study is retrospective, which relies on technology-based founding team members as the primary research subjects. Some respondents may observe the performance of their start-ups today and then make attributions about the past to explain that performance. Practical implications – Utilization of personal networks is important in the early stage of technology-based start-ups; through networking and using trust, an entrepreneur can gain the critical resources and competitive advantage required in the development of a business. Originality/value – In technology-based start-ups, trust, not the resources that an entrepreneur possesses, is an effective way for entrepreneurs to win founding team partners` commitment.