Research Overview
In recent years a new form of business incubation, the so-called Startup Studio, started to gain popularity in both the industry and popular media. A startup studio focuses on building multiple startups in an almost factory-like manner. The approach of startup studios towards new venture creation seems to be drastically different from what has been previously observed in business incubation.
Methodology
In order to create clarity in the startup studio incubation model, this thesis strives to gain insights into the general startup studio trend and the heterogeneity of the startup studios' practices. To gain these insights, a multiple case study on eight startup studios in Europe has been conducted.
Key Findings
Common characteristics with other incubation models have been found, thus verifying the startup studios as an incubation model, and three unique characteristics have been determined (Period of involvement, Origin of idea, and Equity stake), which help distinguish startup studios from other incubation models. Furthermore, the differences between startup studios have been categorized into five main startup studio archetypes: Performance, Bootstrap, Educator, Subsidiary, and Agency model. Lastly, a potential new concept in business incubation (Venture Building as a Service) has been found.