Success Factors of Fast Growing Start-ups

Tamino Fuchs’ thesis examines factors influencing the likelihood of fast growth in Swiss technology start-ups. Main factors influencing growth found in the literature are: entrepreneur’s personality, founding team, business culture, venture capital, social kills and networking, characteristics of the industry, legal form, and luck. Complementing the literature findings, additional relevant factors were identified through interview data collection: focus, business model, product, location, vision, quickness, market, and persistence.

With respect to Switzerland’s start‐up economy, governmental support organisations (such as CTI), foundations and business competitions were recognised to be crucial. Many leading Swiss start‐ups were started as CTI-Project or have won grants from business competitions. In order to gain profounder understanding and to obtain deeper insight into growth factors relevant for Swiss technology start-ups, a survey has been conducted through the use of 9 in-depth interviews and 2 questionnaires in written form. In total, 5 start-up experts and 6 entrepreneurs have participated in the research.

Autonomously listed factors and the factors identified in the literature review were discussed within the scope of the interviews. Most propositions built on the literature found reasonable support. Interdisciplinary and knowledgeable teams, for example, were identified to be more successful than homogenous and inexperienced teams. Furthermore, a business culture of innovation and flexibility was found to be advantageous. However, opposing the literature findings, larger teams were not found to be more successful than smaller teams, since a large number of founders tend to have disputes. Finally, the influence of luck on early business success was recognised. Most entrepreneurs stated that luck played a significant role in the success of their ventures.

Based on the results of this thesis, the following recommendations for rapid start‐up growth are given:  

• Found the company as AG in an industry familiar to the founders  
• Build a heterogeneous and knowledgeable founding team with high ambitions and willingness to work hard
• Clarify roles and responsibilities early
• Enter the market timely with an innovative product
• Focus on strategy and growth
• Raise capital early
• Maintain a social network of contacts
• Do not underestimate the power of luck

The complete thesis can be downloaded on the bottom of this page. The Thesis was written at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Lucerne and commissioned by InnovationsTransfer Zentralschweiz.