Innovation and change in new ventures

Abstract

This paper examines the innovativeness of nascent and young entrepreneurial firms in Australia. Findings of interest in this paper include: ? The vast majority of new ventures offer some degree of innovation in some aspect of their business, be it the product, the process, their market selection or their marketing approach. ? With close to 75 per cent claiming they do more than taking mere imitations to the market, novelty in the product/service is the type of innovation most commonly offered by start-up firms. ? The innovativeness of start-ups varies by industry. Construction start-ups stand out as particularly low in innovation across all indicators, while Manufacturing stands out the most in the positive direction. ? Team start-ups other than spouse teams have higher novelty, as do ventures started by founders with prior start-up experience. ? There is no association between the founders’ level of education and the novelty of the ventures they (try to) create.