Are software start-ups different?: An empirical study on performance of Finnish software companies

Arho Suominen; Sami Hyrynsalmi; Leena Aarikka-Stenroos; Marko Seppänen

doi:10.1109/ICE.2017.8279989

Are software start-ups different? An empirical study on performance of Finnish software companies

Arho Suominen, Sami Hyrynsalmi, Leena Aarikka-Stenroos, Marko Seppänen

Tampere University of Technology (TUT)

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference article in proceedings › Scientific › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Entrepreneurship and start-ups have become modern hype terms. Especially, software start-ups have gathered a lot of interest due to a few successful examples, and the potential scalability of new business. A plethora of accelerators, events and communities has been found as well as new research agendas announced to boost and study the new phenomenon. The question, are software start-ups different, still remains unanswered. This study address whether software start-ups differ from the other kinds of new companies. We use the set of over 20,000 Finnish companies founded during 2010-2013 as an empirical material for our inquiry. To compare the financial performance of software start-ups and the rest, we use the current ratio, profit margin, revenue and return on assets as measures of financial performance. The results show that, indeed, software start-ups differ from the control group in the used financial indicators.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	2017 International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Innovation (ICE/ITMC)
Editors	Joao Pedro Mendonca, Ricardo Jardim-Goncalves, Joao Martins, Alain Zarli, Maria Marques, Marc Pallot
Publisher	IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
Pages	991-996
ISBN (Electronic)	978-1-5386-0774-9
ISBN (Print)	978-1-5386-0775-6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/ICE.2017.8279989
Publication status	Published - 2 Jul 2017
MoE publication type	Not Eligible
Event	23rd International Conference On Engineering, Technlogy and Innovation, ICE/ITMC - Madeira, Portugal Duration: 27 Jun 2017 → 29 Jun 2017

Conference

Conference	23rd International Conference On Engineering, Technlogy and Innovation, ICE/ITMC
Abbreviated title	ICE/ITMC 2017
Country/Territory	Portugal
City	Madeira
Period	27/06/17 → 29/06/17

Keywords

software business
start-up
entrepreneurship
software industry
Finland

Access to Document

10.1109/ICE.2017.8279989

Cite this

Suominen, A., Hyrynsalmi, S., Aarikka-Stenroos, L., & Seppänen, M. (2017). Are software start-ups different? An empirical study on performance of Finnish software companies. In J. P. Mendonca, R. Jardim-Goncalves, J. Martins, A. Zarli, M. Marques, & M. Pallot (Eds.), 2017 International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Innovation (ICE/ITMC) (pp. 991-996). IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICE.2017.8279989

Suominen, Arho ; Hyrynsalmi, Sami ; Aarikka-Stenroos, Leena et al. / Are software start-ups different? An empirical study on performance of Finnish software companies. 2017 International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Innovation (ICE/ITMC). editor / Joao Pedro Mendonca ; Ricardo Jardim-Goncalves ; Joao Martins ; Alain Zarli ; Maria Marques ; Marc Pallot. IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, 2017. pp. 991-996

@inproceedings{50b789149b5346beb922e7999ba51b0a,

title = "Are software start-ups different?: An empirical study on performance of Finnish software companies",

abstract = "Entrepreneurship and start-ups have become modern hype terms. Especially, software start-ups have gathered a lot of interest due to a few successful examples, and the potential scalability of new business. A plethora of accelerators, events and communities has been found as well as new research agendas announced to boost and study the new phenomenon. The question, are software start-ups different, still remains unanswered. This study address whether software start-ups differ from the other kinds of new companies. We use the set of over 20,000 Finnish companies founded during 2010-2013 as an empirical material for our inquiry. To compare the financial performance of software start-ups and the rest, we use the current ratio, profit margin, revenue and return on assets as measures of financial performance. The results show that, indeed, software start-ups differ from the control group in the used financial indicators.",

keywords = "software business, start-up, entrepreneurship, software industry, Finland",

author = "Arho Suominen and Sami Hyrynsalmi and Leena Aarikka-Stenroos and Marko Sepp{\"a}nen",

year = "2017",

month = jul,

day = "2",

doi = "10.1109/ICE.2017.8279989",

language = "English",

isbn = "978-1-5386-0775-6",

pages = "991--996",

editor = "Mendonca, {Joao Pedro} and Ricardo Jardim-Goncalves and Joao Martins and Alain Zarli and Maria Marques and Marc Pallot",

booktitle = "2017 International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Innovation (ICE/ITMC)",

publisher = "IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers",

address = "United States",

note = "23rd International Conference On Engineering, Technlogy and Innovation, ICE/ITMC , ICE/ITMC 2017 ; Conference date: 27-06-2017 Through 29-06-2017",

}

Suominen, A, Hyrynsalmi, S, Aarikka-Stenroos, L & Seppänen, M 2017, Are software start-ups different? An empirical study on performance of Finnish software companies. in JP Mendonca, R Jardim-Goncalves, J Martins, A Zarli, M Marques & M Pallot (eds), 2017 International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Innovation (ICE/ITMC). IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, pp. 991-996, 23rd International Conference On Engineering, Technlogy and Innovation, ICE/ITMC , Madeira, Portugal, 27/06/17. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICE.2017.8279989

Are software start-ups different? An empirical study on performance of Finnish software companies. / Suominen, Arho; Hyrynsalmi, Sami; Aarikka-Stenroos, Leena et al.
2017 International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Innovation (ICE/ITMC). ed. / Joao Pedro Mendonca; Ricardo Jardim-Goncalves; Joao Martins; Alain Zarli; Maria Marques; Marc Pallot. IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, 2017. p. 991-996.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference article in proceedings › Scientific › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Are software start-ups different?

T2 - 23rd International Conference On Engineering, Technlogy and Innovation, ICE/ITMC

AU - Suominen, Arho

AU - Hyrynsalmi, Sami

AU - Aarikka-Stenroos, Leena

AU - Seppänen, Marko

PY - 2017/7/2

Y1 - 2017/7/2

N2 - Entrepreneurship and start-ups have become modern hype terms. Especially, software start-ups have gathered a lot of interest due to a few successful examples, and the potential scalability of new business. A plethora of accelerators, events and communities has been found as well as new research agendas announced to boost and study the new phenomenon. The question, are software start-ups different, still remains unanswered. This study address whether software start-ups differ from the other kinds of new companies. We use the set of over 20,000 Finnish companies founded during 2010-2013 as an empirical material for our inquiry. To compare the financial performance of software start-ups and the rest, we use the current ratio, profit margin, revenue and return on assets as measures of financial performance. The results show that, indeed, software start-ups differ from the control group in the used financial indicators.

AB - Entrepreneurship and start-ups have become modern hype terms. Especially, software start-ups have gathered a lot of interest due to a few successful examples, and the potential scalability of new business. A plethora of accelerators, events and communities has been found as well as new research agendas announced to boost and study the new phenomenon. The question, are software start-ups different, still remains unanswered. This study address whether software start-ups differ from the other kinds of new companies. We use the set of over 20,000 Finnish companies founded during 2010-2013 as an empirical material for our inquiry. To compare the financial performance of software start-ups and the rest, we use the current ratio, profit margin, revenue and return on assets as measures of financial performance. The results show that, indeed, software start-ups differ from the control group in the used financial indicators.

KW - software business

KW - start-up

KW - entrepreneurship

KW - software industry

KW - Finland

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85047564654&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1109/ICE.2017.8279989

DO - 10.1109/ICE.2017.8279989

M3 - Conference article in proceedings

SN - 978-1-5386-0775-6

SP - 991

EP - 996

BT - 2017 International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Innovation (ICE/ITMC)

A2 - Mendonca, Joao Pedro

A2 - Jardim-Goncalves, Ricardo

A2 - Martins, Joao

A2 - Zarli, Alain

A2 - Marques, Maria

A2 - Pallot, Marc

PB - IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

Y2 - 27 June 2017 through 29 June 2017

ER -

Suominen A, Hyrynsalmi S, Aarikka-Stenroos L, Seppänen M. Are software start-ups different? An empirical study on performance of Finnish software companies. In Mendonca JP, Jardim-Goncalves R, Martins J, Zarli A, Marques M, Pallot M, editors, 2017 International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Innovation (ICE/ITMC). IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. 2017. p. 991-996 doi: 10.1109/ICE.2017.8279989