Entrepreneurship and Startups

July 21st, 2023

Lean Startup: Why Do So Many New Startups Follow the Same Development Philosophy?

When we think of startups, we think of fresh, ideas-led businesses that seek to break the mold in how they do things or in what they produce. But when it comes to their business practices and values, it seems that, rather than being pioneers of innovation, many startups adhere to very similar ways of doing things: following the Lean Startup philosophy. A recent study from researchers in management accounting and control Sebastian D. Becker of HEC Paris and Christoph Endenich of ESSEC Business School shows why this is the case.

By Sebastian Becker

Entrepreneurship and Startups

July 20th, 2023

Creative Destruction Lab Tackles AI and Geopolitics in Historic Super Session

Around 1,200 participants congregated in Toronto for the first in-person CDL Super Session in four years. The two-day event featured intense exchanges between startups from the 24 CDL streams, mentors, researchers and academics. There were equally hard-hitting exchanges on AI, geopolitical shifts in innovation and the advancement of humanlike intelligence. HEC Paris sent a strong delegation to Canada to exchange on its growing involvement in this objective-based program for massively scalable, seed-stage companies.

Entrepreneurship and Startups

April 21st, 2023

Why Venture Capitalists Should Invest in Start-Ups Led by Diverse Teams

How do diverse European teams fare in gathering investment for their ideas and taking their product or service to market? Amazingly, this question had remained unanswered until now. A study from two HEC researchers and a UK-based venture capitalist marks the first time that gender and ethnic diversity data was gathered on European start-ups attracting venture capital… with some surprising results.

By Carlos Serrano , Thomas Åstebro

diverse team working in a meeting room - thumbnail

Entrepreneurship and Startups

February 06th, 2023

How to Ensure Entrepreneur Training Really Delivers Business Growth

Vast sums have been pumped into training schemes to boost entrepreneurship and innovation despite mixed reviews of their true impact. As belts tighten in a struggling world economy and further justification is needed, attention returns to this vital question: Do ambitious entrepreneurs benefit more from training? A new study by Anne-Valérie Corboz of HEC Paris, Reddi Kotha and Yimin Lin of the Singapore Management University, and Balagopal Vissa of INSEAD, reveals under which conditions training has a beneficial impact.

By Anne-Valérie Corboz

people brainstorming in an office-knowledge-thumbnail

Entrepreneurship and Startups

November 02nd, 2022

How AI is Affecting VC Funding of Innovative Startups

Artificial Intelligence adoption by investors might hinder the allocation of capital to breakthrough innovations. Learn more in this interview with Maxime Bonelli, PhD student in Finance at HEC Paris, on his dissertation. Maxime focuses on the real effects of new technologies and human capital in the financial sector, to help us better understand how the industrial organization of the financial sector affects the real economy.

PhD Student

Finance

Entrepreneurship and Startups

June 15th, 2022

To Make Your Organization Resilient, Think Like a Family Business

The ups and downs of economic cycles take most companies for dangerous roller-coaster rides, but family firms weather crises much better than their competitors. That's because they focus on resilience rather than on immediate performance. At a time when the global economy seems to experience crisis after crisis, lessons can be drawn from family firms, or non-family ones that behave (and survive) like them.

By Alain Bloch

Entrepreneurship and Startups

June 15th, 2022

Qatar More Resilient to Crises Thanks to Fast-Growing Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Qatar may have been significantly more resilient to the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic than other countries, thanks to its experience of economic blockade and a fast-growing digital entrepreneurship ecosystem that is actively transforming the country’s economy. This is the principal finding of a compelling new study led by Allan Villegas-Mateos, Research Associate at HEC Paris in Qatar.

Entrepreneurship and Startups

May 11th, 2022

When Design Thinking Clashes With the Existing Business Culture

Increasingly firms are seeking new methods to stimulate creativity in a fast-moving business climate. Many turn to design thinking — but with mixed results. New research by HEC Paris Professor Sihem BenMahmoud-Jouini and RISE Senior Researcher Lisa Carlgren sought to find out why this practice is successful for some companies and less so for others. A culture clash may be at the heart of many difficulties.

By Sihem Ben Mahmoud-Jouini

Entrepreneurship and Startups

October 01st, 2021

Gender Difference on Crowdfunding Platforms: What Pitches Work?

On prosocial crowdfunding platforms such as Kiva, which benefit low-income entrepreneurs, women-led campaigns tend to be significantly more successful than men's. To find out which specific gender dynamics explained this difference, HEC Paris professor Santosh B. Srinivas sought to sort out gender differences in the justifications for funding requests entrepreneurs made on the site.

By Santosh Srinivas

Entrepreneurship and Startups

October 01st, 2021

Building Back Better: Why Gender Diversity Needs to Be at the Heart of the Innovation Agenda

Innovation thrives in teams where diverse thinking is not only encouraged but proactively encouraged. Gender diverse teams are shown to have improved performance. Despite the evidence demonstrating the impact of diversity, we still witness mixed reactions to gender diverse teams with the situation exacerbated following the pandemic. As organizations are rebuilding after the initial waves of the pandemic, we focus on why gender diversity needs to be at the heart of this transformation.

Associate Professor

Diversity, Leadership, and Innovation