IESE Insight - Entrepreneurship

4 ways family firms are letting outside investors in

Neckebrouck, Jeroen; Meuleman, Miguel; Manigart, Sophie More family businesses are opening up to external investors these days. IESE's Jeroen Neckebrouck maps out four main scenarios, based on two key questions, and points to their governance implications.

Why winners keep winning: the knock-on effect of early VC success

Nanda, Ramana; Samila, Sampsa; Sorenson, Olav Early venture capital success often leads to continued success. New research explores how VC firms maintain these winning streaks, and shows that to access lucrative investments, VC managers' individual skills matter less than their track record.

3 success factors for crowdfunding

Kyriakou, Harris; Genc, Yegin Crowdfunding is creating opportunities for many innovators. Studying successful campaigns also shines a light on innovation that even the largest corporation can learn from. Research by IESE's Harris Kyriakou identifies three key factors that help predict success.

Technology transfer: how to commercialize discoveries via linked innovation

Siota, Josemaria; Dávila, Antonio A new report on technology transfer offers 18 best practices and 12 business models to help research centers commercialize their discoveries, for linked innovation that's economically sustainable.

Entrepreneurs don't cry: surprising keys to startup success

Huy, Quy; Zott, Christoph Think "successful entrepreneur" and emotional control may not be the first thing to pop to mind. And yet steady emotions can be key in the turbulent times around a business launch. Quy Huy and Christoph Zott identify five "emotional-regulation behaviors" worth emulating.

Starting up amid a global slowdown: Spain's business angels are optimistic

Roure, Juan; de San José Riestra, Amparo Economic growth may be slowing, but startups in Spain are nonetheless enjoying a healthy influx of international funding and increased corporate venturing.

Don't be deceived: 6 key misconceptions that can harm your business

Nueno, Pedro In business, as in life, fooling yourself often costs more than facing the truth, explains Pedro Nueno. His latest book examines how self-deception happens within companies and offers ways to root it out.

What is holding back tech licensing?

Moreira, Solon; Cabaleiro, Goretti; Reichstein, Toke New technologies could be commercialized to a greater extent than they currently are. But when competition is fierce and sunk costs run high, technology owners are reluctant to out-license. How might this reluctance be overcome?

How rankings shape your growth story

Dávila, Antonio; Foster, George; He, Xiaobin; Shimizu, Carlos High-growth rankings can give small companies a quick reputational boost. But unless you understand the metrics involved, your time on the list could be very short indeed.

Corporate venturing: give your CIO the gift of a full night's sleep

Prats, Mª Julia; Siota, Josemaria; Martinez-Monche, Isabel; Martínez, Yair We know corporate venturing is important, but applying it is the hard part. Many chief innovation officers suffer sleepless nights. Here are some solutions and good practices from Adidas, Intel and others who have gone before.