Exploiting Nanotech Opportunities: A Strategic Entrepreneurship Perspective

摘要

This paper analyzes the main challenges nanotechnology start-ups face in turning nanotechnology inventions into valuable and marketable innovations, also considering that nanotechnology discoveries could represent 'inventions of methods of inventing' [1]. In the last few decades, nanotechnology has been a burgeoning area of science and engineering which shows an increasing potential to transform a broad range of industries and to boost US and European firms' competitiveness [2]. Although these emerging technologies share some problems with new ventures in other emerging industries (e.g. biotech), nanotechnology firms have to balance not only the management of high technical risk and high market risk, but also the presence of a still evolving regulatory frameworks [3] and the challenges of creating strategies in order to enter business networks and attract investments (e.g. in the form of potential venture capitalists). Potential investors, in turn, will face the well-known hurdle of due diligence, for which they have to consider, for example, health or safety concerns, manufacturing requirements, availability of distribution channels, etc. [4]. We propose that new and adolescent firms may exploit nanotechnology opportunities by adopting a systemic approach which takes into account the prominence of partnering strategically within the supply chain (in accordance with the firm's intellectual property strategies) and deploying a multi-point market strategy. We analyze a sample of fifteen European nanotechnology firms which confirm our predictions. Findings reveal that it is worthwhile to take caution with generalized opinion as to which alliances are key factors behind new nanotechnology firms' performance. IPRs strategies and financial support are the most relevant enablers of strategic alliance building. Due to the novelty of the topic covered in this study, this research is exploratory in nature.