Life Cycle Analysis of Startups

Abstract

India is an economy with one-fifth of world’s working population. With such large population percentage of job opportunities become very less. Startups are oftentimes seen as the solution to the much needed job growth. More importantly, it is successful startups that matter most. But, how do entrepreneurs value the most important factors for success? This study determines what factors are important in each stage in the startup life cycle and how to determine the life cycle of a start-up. First, success and failure factors are identified through a literature review. Second, a conceptual startup framework is constructed in which the factors are divided in the founding team, the startup capability, and the external environment. Next data is collected about 5 startups from different field of operation like Internet, Renewable Energy and E-commerce. Also, online interviews were done of 50 entrepreneurs to collect data. And last, a test is conducted in order to test the propositions and determine what factors are most important in each stage of the startup life cycle. The results showed us that different factors are responsible for growth or downfall of a startup at different stages of development. This report clearly points down different factors at different stages responsible for growth or downfall of a start-up.