Business Model Design and the Growth of Science-based and High-tech New Ventures: towards a possible convergence?

This paper represents the first step of a broader research project focusing on the growth performances of start-up firms in technological sectors. While our main assumption is that the growth of such firms can be mostly attributed to strategic factors (i.e. market position, product system, organization design and value chain structure), we aim at reviewing with a broader scope the available literature on the topic with the purpose to identify the different determinants of new firms’ growth. After summarizing the most relevant research perspectives on the theme – which we classify in three categories: entrepreneurial, contextual and strategic – we introduce the perspective of the business model. In our view, this construct represents a significant conceptual improvement for the study and explanation of the developmental processes and the performances of the new ventures in high-tech and science-based fields. We first define what a business model is, according to the extant literature, and then discuss the implications of the adoption of such concept for our research. We conclude the paper by setting the research path ahead. This paper is part of a research project (PRIN 2010 - Ricerca scientifica e competitività. Varietà delle forme di impresa, sistemi di supporto e dimensioni di performance) that benefits from Government funds