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Entrepreneurs nurture their ambitions of founding tech start-ups that facilitate significant innovations despite vulnerability and considerable uncertainty by resolutely addressing multiple challenges to avert failures. The paper aims to answer how soon do tech start-ups fail, given their lifecycle comprising multiple stages of formation and what attributes hasten failure of tech start-ups over their lifecycle? These questions have not been answered adequately, particularly in the context of India's emerging economy, where an aspiring start-up ecosystem is striving to flourish at an exceptional rate.

The study addressed two specific objectives: (1) Does life expectancy vary between life-cycle stages? and (2) What attributes impact tech start-ups' failures? Primary data were gathered from 151 cofounders (101 who have experienced failure and 50 who are successful and continuing their operations) from India's 6 leading start-up hubs. The survival analysis techniques were used, including non-parametric Kaplan–Meier estimator, to study the first objective and semi-parametric Cox proportional hazard regression to explore the second objective.

The survival probability log-rank statistics ascertain that life expectancy is different across the life-cycle stages, namely emergence, stability and growth. The hazard ratios (HRs) throw light on attributes like stage, revenue, conflict with investors, number of current start-ups, cofounder experience, level of confidence (LoC) and educational qualifications as the key attributes that influence start-up life expectancy over its lifecycle.

The empirical study on tech start-ups' life expectancy has practical implications for entrepreneurs and investors besides guiding the ecosystem's policymakers. First, the study helps entrepreneurs plan for resources and be aware of their start-up journey's potential pitfalls. Second, the study helps investors to establish the engagement framework and plan their future funding strategy. Third, the study helps policymakers to design and establish progressive support mechanisms that can prevent a start-up's failure.

First and foremost, start-up life expectancy study by life-cycle stages provide detailed insights on start-ups' failures. The theoretical framework defined is replicable, scalable and distinctly measurable for studying the start-up failure phenomenon. The life expectancy of tech start-ups by life-cycle stage is a critical empirical contribution. Next, the attributes impacting start-up life expectancy are identified in the context of an emerging economy.

The purpose of this paper is to outline the key determinants of innovation performance of a firm in a cluster. This paper probes the role of absorptive capacity in furthering the cluster linkages and thereby enhancing the innovation performance of a firm.

This study adopts stratified random sampling technique to choose sample firms from the identified population of firms in a cluster. Further, it employs primary data collection method to collect data from sample firms through a semi-structured questionnaire based in-depth interviews with the top level management of sample firms. It uses multiple linear regression (MLR) techniques to ascertain the influence of absorptive capacity on degree of cluster linkages (both intra-cluster and extra-cluster linkages), and degree of cluster linkages (both intra-cluster and extra-cluster linkages) on innovation performance of a firm.

On the one hand, internal factors of absorptive capacity of a firm have a significant positive influence on the degrees of both intra-cluster linkages and extra-cluster linkages. On the other hand, external factors of absorptive capacity of a firm significantly impact the degree of intra-cluster linkages (DICL). But, they have no significant influence on the degree of extra-cluster linkages (DECL). Further, both the DICL and the DECL drive innovation performance of a firm in a cluster. Notably, subsidiaries of externally based firms exhibit superior innovation performance compared to those firms based in a cluster.

This paper contributes to the extant literature in two ways. First, it empirically validates the effect of absorptive capacity of a firm on its degree of cluster linkages (both intra-cluster and extra-cluster linkages) taking into account both internal and external factors of absorptive capacity. Second, it ascertains the influence of degree of cluster linkages (both intra-cluster and extra-cluster linkages) on the innovation performance of a firm in a cluster.

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the factors determining the choice of sources of finance for a tech startup over its lifecycle.

This study adopts simple random sampling technique to choose 93 sample tech startups in Bangalore. Further, this study employs the primary data collection from the sampled startups under study through a semi-structured questionnaire and in-depth interviews with the founders/CEOs of these startups. Furthermore, it carries out binary logistic regression analysis to primarily examine the likelihood of a tech startup to approach and access a particular source of finance over its lifecycle.

Our results indicate that a tech startup's choice for a financial source varies with its lifecycle stage and financial requirements. We find that while in its early stage, a tech startup's choice of a financial source is limited to business angels (BA), in the growth stage, it approaches the institutional sources, viz. Venture Capital (VC), Corporate Venture Capital (CVC), Banks and Private Equity (PE) firms alternatively. Out of the three major categories of financial requirements: Human Capital (HC), Research Capital (RC) and Social Capital (SC), the requirement for HC and SC is predominantly funded by VCs, while the acquisition of RC is facilitated by early stage investors (BAs) as well as growth stage investors (CVC and PEs).

The research implication of the study lies in bringing out the need to understand both the nature and the quantum of financial requirements of tech startups would influence the sources of finance it would approach and obtain finance for its operations and growth.

The major policy implication of the study refers to the need to promote the diverse sources of finance to meet the diverse needs of finance in different stages of a tech startup's lifecycle. Particularly in an emerging economy, where we do not see the emergence and growth of highly innovative tech startups, the need to promote adequate availability of RC is especially important.

This study makes a key contribution to the entrepreneurial finance literature by empirically investigating the factors determining a tech startup's propensity to approach and access a particular source of finance over its lifecycle.

Bangalore has gained international recognition as a technology start-up hub for its vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem. Against this backdrop, this paper attempts to explore the structure and gap that exist with respect to the entrepreneurial ecosystem for tech start-ups in Bangalore.

A Delphi technique based four stage interaction with the experts/stakeholders belonging to different components of the entrepreneurial ecosystem (as identified from the literature) in the context of Bangalore is conducted, to gather primary data. This enabled us to define the structure of entrepreneurial ecosystem and analyse the gap that exists between an ideal ecosystem feasible in the Indian context and that one that prevailed in Bangalore.

The prevailing entrepreneurial ecosystem for tech start-ups in Bangalore is significantly different (lower) relative to an ideal ecosystem feasible in the Indian economic environment, as prescribed by the Delphi experts, both at the aggregate level and at an individual component level. The step-wise (backward) logistic regression analysis revealed that Bangalore ecosystem is primarily lacking in terms of one of the Triple Helices, namely, role of education and research institutions, and two of the five indispensable components, namely, market maturity and mentorship.

It is essential to strengthen and promote the Triple Helix base and the five indispensable components in an entrepreneurial ecosystem, to accelerate the emergence and growth of tech start-ups.

It brings out the nature of entrepreneurial ecosystem structure and the gap between what can be considered an ideal ecosystem and what prevails in Bangalore currently.

This is a primary data based study, which has value for regional policy makers in strategizing to promote Bangalore ecosystem, and for researchers in undertaking “ecosystem gap analysis”.

Technology business incubators (TBIs) form an indispensable part of an entrepreneurial ecosystem for the promotion of tech start-ups across the global economy. However, they have evolved in varied forms over a period of time, in terms of typologies, sponsors and stakeholders, goals and objectives, functions and services offered, process of incubation support provided through hard and soft infrastructure, outcomes and achievements and even in terms of theoretical bases. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to review the extant literature on TBIs to arrive at a framework that explains how TBIs contribute to start-up generation.

This paper reviews extant empirical literature for a systematic evaluation to throw light on the various dimensions of TBIs: typology, goals and objectives, functions and services, process and provision of incubation support, outcomes and achievements. Further, after critically reviewing some of the theoretical propositions, it develops a conceptual framework combining pre-incubation, incubation and post-incubation processes of TBIs.

Based on literature understanding and some of the key theoretical constructs, a conceptual framework is developed comprising pre-incubation, incubation and post-incubation stages of start-up formation and graduation. The paper also identifies some prospective areas for future research.

Any empirical research on technology business incubation must focus on pre-incubation and post-incubation processes as much as on the incubation process, to derive meaningful implications and enhance the productivity of TBIs.

The conceptual framework derived out of the systematic literature review will enable further research and exploration of micro-aspects of pre-incubation, incubation and post-incubation phases across multiple dimensions.

The purpose of this study is to explore how do the characteristics of technology business incubators (TBIs), their chief executive officers, selection process and incubation process influence their research and development (R&D) contributions to the national economy.

These research questions are probed based on primary data gathered from 65 TBIs located in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad, 3 of the leading start-up hubs of India comprising 9 accelerators, 31 incubators and 25 co-working spaces. Stepwise (backward elimination) regression method has been applied for six regression models for the analysis of research objectives.

Incubators more than accelerators and co-working spaces have incurred R&D investments for infrastructure development and hired exclusive R&D personnel. External networks and size of incubators in terms of number of incubatees are decisive for R&D investments and new products/services. TBIs accounted for a negligible share of patents relative to the number of new products/services generated in these TBIs, thereby indicating “low level of novelty/innovativeness” of new products/services. However, both new products/services and patent applications are crucial for revenue generation, implying that the generated new products/services are able to penetrate the market and patent application submission can act as a “signal” to the market.

The overall research findings portend that there is scope and potential for an increasing R&D contribution to emerge from the TBIs along with their incubated start-ups, to supplement the national R&D efforts in India in the future. The emphasis, of course, has to be more on strengthening the innovation ecosystem through TBIs by means of industry–institute partnerships.

This study’s practical implications refer to the need to promote TBIs as a means of strengthening regional innovation systems in developing economies.

TBIs can be a means of nurturing tech start-ups for generating employment and income in regional economies.

This is a first of its kind study with reference to an emerging economy exploring to understand the extent of R&D contributions emerging from TBIs, which have been promoted on an increasing scale across the country as a means of nurturing technology start-ups.