TY  - JOUR
U1  - Zeitschriftenartikel, wissenschaftlich - begutachtet (reviewed)
A1  - Kabbara, Diala
A1  - Hagen, Birgit
T1  - A life cylce view on unicorn start-ups
BT  - drivers of long-term high-growth
JF  - Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development
N2  - Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore the exogenous and endogenous drivers of the high-growth of Unicorn start-ups along their life cycle, with a particular focus on Unicorns in the fintech industry.
Design/methodology/approach – The study employs an explorative longitudinal analysis with a matched pair of two cases of Unicorns start-ups with similar antecedent features to understand holistically drivers over the longer term.
Findings – High-growth patterns over the longer term are the result of a combined industry- and company-life cycle perspective. Drivers and growth patterns vary significantly according to the time of entry in the industry and
its development status. The findings are systematised within a set of propositions to be tested in future research.
Research limitations/implications – The limitations lie in empirical evidence, as the analysis is limited to one matched-pair. The revealed Unicorns’ drivers for long-term growth might encourage future research to further investigate these drivers on a larger scale.
Practical implications – The study offers practical recommendations for start-ups with high-growth ambitions and advice to policy makers regarding the development of tailor-made support programs.
Originality/value – The study significantly extends extant work on growth and high-growth by examining endogenous and exogenous triggers over time and by linking the Unicorn-life cycle to the industry life cycle, an approach which has, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, not yet been applied.
KW  - unicorn start-ups
KW  - long-term growth
KW  - high-growth firms
KW  - life cycle
KW  - fintech
Y1  - 2023
SN  - 1462-6004
SS  - 1462-6004
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1108/JSBED-02-2023-0077
DO  - https://doi.org/10.1108/JSBED-02-2023-0077
VL  - 30
IS  - 6
SP  - 1210
EP  - 1240
S1  - 30
PB  - Emerald Publishing Limited
CY  - Bingley, West Yorkshire, England
ER  -