Abstract
In this chapter we discuss how high-tech startups, as nascent businesses with limited resources, succeed in international markets. Based on survey results and case studies, the chapter offers an overview of the drivers that influence the internationalization of startups and presents cases of successful internationalized startups from Brazil. We used a mixed method approach, combining a quantitative survey and a multiple-case study methodology. We divide these drivers into organizational drivers, entrepreneur-related drivers, and external drivers, through a survey applied to Brazilian startups. Additionally, based on eight case studies, we analyzed the necessary drivers, related to digital capabilities, for these companies to pursue an internationalization process.
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Notes
- 1.
“We define an international new venture as a business organization that, from inception, seeks to derive significant competitive advantage from the use of resources and the sale of outputs in multiple countries” (Oviatt & McDougall, 1994, p. 49).
- 2.
The literature is controversial to define early and rapid internationalization strategies. The most recurrent criteria the beginning of international activities after the foundation (varies from 2 to 15 years), the percentage of revenues arising from foreign operations (ranging from 5 to 75% for companies with small domestic markets), and the range of markets (one or few international markets, in the same or in different regions around the world). Observation of these variables suggests that the adoption of a definition is contingent upon the company’s home country and the characteristics of its business environment (Dib, da Rocha, & da Silva, 2010).
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Cahen, F.R. (2019). Internationalization of Brazilian High-Tech Startups. In: Oliveira, Jr., M., Cahen, F., Borini, F. (eds) Startups and Innovation Ecosystems in Emerging Markets. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10865-6_3
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