Fast-Growth Firms and Entrepreneurial Teams

A body of research exists which suggests that firms founded by entrepreneurial teams are more likely to be fast-growing than firms founded by individuals. This 2001 study does not question the validity of such findings, but instead builds from it by asking “if this is true, then what do firms founded by entrepreneurial teams uniquely effect that makes them fast-growth?”. A detailed exploration of the literature brought the decision to examine the different firm classifications through structures and strategies. The primary proposition was that fast-growth firms founded by entrepreneurial teams would display a unique combination of organic structure and emergent strategy. To test the hypotheses, a survey of software firms was undertaken in Massachusetts (U.S.A.) and Ireland. The principal finding of the study was that the coupling of organic and emergent strategy was not unique to fast-growth firms founded by entrepreneurial teams but instead the lessons from fast-growth firms were about mindsets and sharing.