Lean and Global Technology Start-ups: Linking the Two Research Streams

The focus of this research study is on newly established technology oriented firms that are both lean and global from their inception. The combination of lean and global characteristics will allow integrating two different research streams which, unfortunately, are currently separate. The first stream is well established focuses on International New Ventures (INVs) or Born Global (BG) firms (Oviatt & McDougall, 1994; Knight and Cavusgil, 1996); the second one is in the process of emerging and deals with lean start-ups (Ries, 2011; Blank, 2013). It is our intention to show that the problems these two groups of firms face during the early stages of their existence are to a large extent identical and could, from a theoretical point of view, be analyzed in a unified way. Integrating the two research perspectives above gives rise to a number of interesting research questions that could be summarized as follows:
a) How do new technology start-ups narrow down the scope of their business activities by effectuating the global dimensions of their businesses? What are the reasons for such firms to look for global resources, partnerships or markets right from inception?
b) What makes it possible for a firm to be innovative right from or near its founding? How does the degree of innovativeness of its products or services affect the business model formulation and early internationalization processes?
c) How are relations and networks used by new technology firms to synergize radical innovation and early internationalization activities? How do they use international partnerships or networks to reduce the complexity and the uncertainties associated with a global market entry?