Start-Up Teams

Start-up teams are groups of two or more individuals who establish and manage new ventures. By working together they enhance the knowledge in the venture and share risks. Teamwork is more effective when interaction processes are of high quality, which allows start-up teams to cope with a wide range of challenges.

In the history of research on new ventures, starting with Joseph Schumpeter in the 1930s, start-ups [Page 428]were characterized by one champion entrepreneur who puts effort into his ideas. That person implements innovations in such a proactive manner that he or she has the motivation to persevere until market penetration. Team entrepreneurship as an area of study is a more recent phenomenon. In 1987, Robert Reich reconsidered entrepreneurship, elevating the start-up team to the status ...