ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION IN NEW STARTUPS
Startup ventures require entrepreneurship by definition; but the specific roles and effects of individual entrepreneurs is uncertain, or debatable. While the personalities and actions of entrepreneurs are often emphasized in startups, there are other social and political factors involved which may foster or deter. A comparison of new ventures in different industries or countries, or at different times, can help to explain and predict the success or failure of startups. Are they the result of entrepreneurs, finance, laws, or luck? Were Travis Kalanick or Joe Gebbia such brilliant business people, or did they have timing and funds? Do they have the necessary personalities for startups, or are they just "jerks" in the Valley's bro-culture?
The books by Meyer and Crane (New Venture Creation) and Brad Stone (The Upstarts) offer the theories and historical descriptions to analyze the success or failure of startups. M&C's Chapter 1 describes some of the personality characteristics associated with entrepreneurs, and the LOT-R survey questions to assess your own entrepreneurial potential. How, when, where, or why is this potential applied to real business situations? Stone's book describes the history behind the sometimes "accidental success" of Airbnb and Uber, from their early days and current operations. But he also reviews (Chapter 3) the failure of other similar U.S. startups at the same time, and emerging threats of rivals from China, Didi or Alibaba(Ch.12).
Your assignment is to compare the entrepreneurial personalities and business strategies of one of the more successful startups, either Airbnb or Uber, with the same variables from M&C. Why did Airbnb or Uber succeed in the home sharing or ride hailing service, when other "nonstarters" (SeamlessWeb, Taxi Magic, Cabulous, Couchsurfing, Zimride) or countless other failures from Chapter 3, did not survive very long? You can use the descriptive histories from Stone's book, or class material from online YouTube videos to analyze the reasons for their relative success or failure; but please cite any sources or other writings used.