Pro-social and other motivations of innovative start-ups

Abstract

tart-ups can contribute to improving the sustainability of business activu0002ities in our society. In this study, start-ups that participated in the Swiss Innovation Challenge, a business plan competition, were examined regarding their motivation to found a company. The research question is, which role pro-social motivations of entrepreneurs play in the founding of a start-up. This was examined with an analysis of the start-ups’ motivations in general and secondly with a detailed analysis of their sustainability orientation. First, in a literature review of possible categories of motiu0002vations, these were identifed: fnancial motives, self-realization and identity, recogu0002nition and status, better working conditions, family tradition, and a pro-social sustainability motivation. Then, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the start-up teams and qualitatively analyzed. Many of the teams mentioned identiu0002fcation with the project and self-realization, this was the dominant motive. While most of the start-ups were proft-oriented, several interviewees also mentioned susu0002tainability motives, with varying priorities. The range of sustainability aspects was particularly wide, also due to the very different business models. Founding teams that included sustainability aspects into their business generally had a higher susu0002tainability orientation. Thus, raising the awareness of sustainable management issues, education, and training could improve the sustainability impact of start-ups.