Research

PRE-ENTRY EXPERIENCE AND THE HETEROGENEITY IN STARTUP PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM THE NASCENT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE INDUSTRY
Research Policy, 2026 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2025.105367)
We examine the performance differences among startups in nascent industries, taking account of the distinct knowledge contexts from which they arise. Specifically, we investigate the effect of pre-entry experience on the performance of startups originating within the same industry (i.e. inside–industry spinouts) and those from related knowledge contexts along the value chain (i.e. outside–industry spinouts). Analyzing a novel dataset that includes all U.S. artificial intelligence industry startup entrants during the period 1980 to 2014, we find that inside–industry spinouts and outside–industry spinouts have comparable survival and successful exit rates, outperforming startups with no pre-entry experience related to AI. Exploring the heterogeneity among outside–industry spinouts, we also find that the higher survival rate of this category of entrants is driven by startups founded by individuals who previously worked for firms operating in upstream supplier industries. We discuss the implications of our findings for research on strategy and industry evolution.

SPAWNED BY OPPORTUNITY OR OUT OF NECESSITY? ORGANIZATIONAL ANTECEDENTS AND THE CHOICE OF INDUSTRY AND TECHNOLOGY IN EMPLOYEE SPINOUTS
Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 2024 (https://doi.org/10.1002/SEJ.1511)
I examine how the organizational antecedents of spinouts shape the new firms’ industry and technological trajectory choices compared to those of the parent firms. Building on prior research on employee entrepreneurship and integrating insights from the literature on opportunity and necessity entrepreneurship, I hypothesize that spinouts launched to exploit a new business opportunity shunned by the parent firm (i.e. opportunity spinouts) are more likely to enter a different but related industry and technological field to those of the parent firm. I hypothesize also that spinouts triggered by adverse developments in the parent firm (i.e. necessity spinouts) are more likely to target the same industry and technological field as the parent. Analysis of data from the European biotech industry supports these predictions.

EMPLOYEE SPINOUTS ALONG THE VALUE CHAIN
Industrial and Corporate Change, 2024 (https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/dtad073)
While much of the academic literature on spinouts focuses on new ventures launched by the ex-employees of incumbent firms within the same industry, recent research shows that spinouts may also enter a focal industry from “knowledge contexts” outside of the incumbent industry. In particular, recent studies show that spinouts may enter from both downstream and upstream industries related to a focal industry along the value chain. Such spinouts have been called user-industry and supplier-industry spinouts. In this article, evidence from existing studies is collected to provide an indication of the relevance of such spinouts across various industries. This survey also includes an analysis of industry studies in which user- and supplier-industry spinouts may have been present but were not identified as such by scholars due to a difference in focus. The paper then considers the evidence accumulated to date in order to explore the industry contexts in which these two types of spinouts appear and to develop propositions concerning differences in the entry timing and product/market strategies of these startups.

WHEN DO SPINOUTS BENEFIT FROM MARKET OVERLAP WITH PARENT FIRMS?
Journal of Business Venturing, 2022 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2022.106249)
We examine how market overlap with parent organizations affects the performance of startups founded by former employees of these incumbent firms. Building on knowledge inheritance and competitive dynamics theories, we propose that the degree to which a spinout’s operating market overlaps with that of its parent organization has a curvilinear relationship with its likelihood of survival. Market overlap is beneficial to spinouts because it reduces uncertainty during the early stages of new venture development. However, substantial market overlap may spark hostile actions by the parent, thereby creating disruptive competition that may lower the likelihood of the spinout’s survival. Furthermore, we hypothesize that the hierarchical position of founders in parent organizations moderates the overlap–performance relationship. Using a sample of European biotech spinouts and their parents, we find support for our hypotheses.