Comfortable but Not Brilliant: Exploring the Incubation Experience of Founders of Technology-Based Startups

Abstract

Business incubators have been highlighted as vital contributors and value-creation organizations to entrepreneurs during their venture developments by offering them multiple resources and specialized support. Notwithstanding, several authors call attention to the significant literature gap concerning research focusing on entrepreneurs’ daily lived incubation experiences to understand their perspectives on incubators. This study aims to explore which aspects are perceived as creating value or limiting the venture development of 16 founders of technology-based startups by interviewing them. Ultimately, it contributes valuable insights about incubation factors that enhance or hinder their overall incubation experience. It suggests that entrepreneurs consider intangible resources and social and relational aspects as the most enriching dimensions of their incubation experiences and concludes with the services they consider to be more important. Moreover, it also reveals negative aspects of the incubation experience, mostly related to the nonregular periodicity of mentoring sessions, training events provided by external entities, and issues while using services provided by external incubators’ partners. Several recommendations for enhancing the incubation experience, managerial implications, and opportunities for further research are discussed.