A Model for Analyzing Entrepreneurial Innovation in High-tech Sectors

The research in this paper uses an inductive methodology to suggest a framework that is more adapted to studying innovation by small firms in high-tech sectors. Existing theories are shown to rely fundamentally on the notions of dominant design and dominant logic. Their bias towards technological innovation together with their context reliance makes them less useful in the context of high-tech start-ups. A study based on semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs, investors and innovation professionals, shows that innovation in those contexts is better captured by thinking in terms of (un)explored strategic domains and (un)used knowledge. The opposition of the two dimensions reveals that there are two major groups of start-up companies, each tied to one of two major innovation processes: productification when fundamentally new knowledge is translated into a first application; and strategic shift when new knowledge is applied to other areas than where its first application was.