Success Factors of Startup Companies. An Empirical Analysis of E-Business Startups in North America

Master's Thesis from the year 2014 in the subject Engineering - Industrial Engineering and Management grade: 1.0 Technical University of Berlin language: English abstract: This thesis develops a six-step success factor model for IT-startups. It is based on an empirical analysis (Grounded Theory Method) of North American Startups. Further it provides an investment-decision model used by Venture Capitalists and Business Angels while deciding which Startup to fund.Every day an increasing number of business ventures (startups) are founded all over the world especially in North America. Particularly the number of internet-based startups (e-business startups) with the endless possibilities of the online world is increasing continuously. However most of these startups fail while only a minority is able to survive and actually be successful. The research objective of this thesis is to identify and understand the factors that make an e-business startup successful. As a result a six-step success factor model was generated that consists of the following six categories: preparation entrepreneur/team product/idea financing targeting and execution as well as one additional category the external factors. Each of the categories consists of several specific success factors such as team structure network or scalability. Furthermore the venture financing as an integral part of the six-step model was analyzed in detail and the decision-making criteria of venture capitalists were identified. The three decision-making categories for venture capitalists are the team the product as well as the market along with the strategy. Each of these categories consists both knock-out criteria (must-requirements such as problem-solving product) and more detailed criteria (such as team experience or exit-strategy). Given that non-quantifiable factors can also contribute significantly to the success of a business it is important to consider factors such as the challenges succ