Gestation, endowments, and knowledge flows around the time of venture creation

2025/05/05 by Alex Coad, Masatoshi Kato, Stjepan Srhoj · 1 voice
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Business, Management and Accounting · #Firm Innovation and Growth #Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences #Private Equity and Venture Capital

paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s00191-025-00899-5

openalex publication_date 2025/05/05 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29

Abstract

Abstract Recent developments in venture creation are discussed, moving from a standard model of venture creation as a one-off binary decision (enter or not) to viewing venture creation in terms of knowledge endowments that differ according to the gestation process. We draw on the analogy that healthy newborn babies lose weight in the first few days after birth to investigate how nascent ventures slowly build routines and capabilities while drawing down their initial resource endowments. We critically discuss various themes, such as the paradox of new ventures without DNA (i.e., routines), misunderstandings about lean startups, accelerating vs. delaying a startup, and the timing of birth.

Citations

• New firm gestation: Conception, birth, and implications for research
• Competitive Implications of Interfirm Mobility
• The Slow Growth of New Plants: Learning about Demand?
• Do Accelerators Work? If So, How?
• Small business activity does not measure entrepreneurship
• Prior Knowledge and the Discovery of Entrepreneurial Opportunities
• Innovation and Industry Evolution
• The Promise of Entrepreneurship as a Field of Research

Discussions

• 📢📢"Gestation, endowments, & knowledge flows around the time of venture creation" New paper in JEE [Open Access] with @mst-kato.bsky.social‬ and @stjepan-srhoj.bsky.social‬ Paper: https://doi.org/1 [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]