Doctoral Dissertation: The Journey towards a Growing Diffusion of Entrepreneurship Learning and Culture in Society Written by: Mirta Michilli Role DETAILS Author Name: Mirta Michilli, PhD Year: 2019 Title: The Journey towards a Growing Diffusion of Entrepreneurship Learning and Culture in Society Document type: Doctoral dissertation Institution: The International School of Management (ISM) URL: https://ism.edu/images/ismdocs/dissertations/michilli-phd- dissertation-2019.pdf International School of Management Ph.D. Program The Journey towards a Growing Diffusion of Entrepreneurship Learning and Culture in Society PhD Dissertation PhD candidate: Mirta Michilli 21st December 2019 Acknowledgments I wish to dedicate this work to Prof. Tullio De Mauro who many years ago believed in me and gave me the permission to add this challenge to the many I face every day as General Director of Fondazione Mondo Digitale. The effort I have sustained for many years has been first of all for myself, to satisfy my desire to learn and improve all the time, but it has also been for my fifteen year old son Rodrigo, who is building his life and to whom I wish the power of remaining always curious, hungry for knowledge, and capable of working hard and sacrificing for his dreams. I could have not been able to reach this doctorate without the support of my family: my mother, for having being present all the time I needed to be away, my sister, for showing me how to undertake continuous learning challenges and, above all, my beloved husband to whom I owe most of what I know and for dreaming with me endlessly. I wish also to thank my supervisor Dr. Antonella Poce for her invaluable support and trust. Many thanks also go to all those persons who kindly gave me their time with interviews and corrections that made this thesis possible. Finally, my profound gratitude goes to the people of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale who have made possible the experience of the Inclusive Phyrtual Accelerator (IPA), one of the case studies of this work, and for being such a great team. 2 Abstract The aim of this thesis is to cast light on the subject of its main research proposition, namely, the apparent trend towards a growing diffusion of an entrepreneurship culture and learning in society. It does so by dealing in considerable detail with the recent evolution and characteristics of startup accelerators, pre-accelerators, and other form of entrepreneurship support activities, including, an educationally-oriented inclusive entrepreneurship accelerator. For the sake of completeness, the research goes back in time to the historical origins of entrepreneurial programs in the form of the incubator around the late-1950. The chosen methodology of the study applies a mix of exploratory and descriptive research, with some element of quantification, mostly due to the recentness of the phenomenon and the rather unstructured condition of existing knowledge. This is reflected in the structure of the thesis that combines an extensive review of literature with the empirical research of three case studies of leading accelerators in three European countries (France, Israel and Italy), in addition to the case of the more recent experience of an educationally-oriented inclusive entrepreneurship accelerator, also in Italy. The overall combination generates, on the one hand, an overview of developments happening in the field under research and, on the other, an in-depth knowledge of how this is happening empirically in specific cases. Among other aspects, this helps reveal: (i) why and how the realm of entrepreneurship support structures has changed markedly in recent years, leading to a notable expansion of new entrepreneurship programs and instruments in society; (ii) the variety of new programs’ mechanisms, learning approaches, business models, and their evolution in the face of sustainability challenges; and (iii) the challenges and conditions facilitating and/or blocking the development of accelerators. The results of the overall approach is reflected in the structure of the thesis in two Parts, the first, following the Introduction and including two chapters: Methodology and Review of Literature and, the second, containing six chapters with the four case studies, their comparative analysis and, also, the concluding chapter. The argument confirms the main proposition of the thesis, namely, the existence of a trend towards a growing diffusion on an entrepreneurship culture and learning in society. The results may be useful for 3 countries and regions facing increasing demand for entrepreneurial capacity to respond better to the entrepreneurial challenges of a complex and rapidly evolving society. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 11 1.1 Background and Purpose of the Study – Main Research Problem ............................................. 11 1.2 Specific Research Problems and Questions ....................................................................................... 13 1.3 Significance of the Research .................................................................................................................... 15 1.4 Expected Outcomes, Results and Contributions of the Research ............................................... 16 1.5 Organization of the Thesis ....................................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 2 Research Design and Methodology ................................................................................ 18 2.1 Which Methodology: Qualitative, Quantitative or Mixed? ............................................................ 20 2.1.2 Exploratory/descriptive research techniques ................................................................................................................ 25 2.2 Elements of this Thesis’ Research Methodology .............................................................................. 27 Chapter 3 Review of Literature ............................................................................................................ 32 3.1 Definition of Startup or Seed Accelerators ......................................................................................... 33 3.2 Early Evolution of Entrepreneurship Support Programes: Incubators, Science Parks, etc. .................................................................................................................................................................................. 37 3.3 Startup Accelerators In-depth Analysis .............................................................................................. 45 3.3.1 Accelerator’s ecosystem: constituents, value flows and organization .................................................................. 46 3.3.1.1 Startup founders’ perceived value of accelerators ..................................................................................................... 47 3.3.1.2 Investors’ perceived value of accelerators ................................................................................................................... 51 3.3.1.3 Perceived value of accelerators for mentors and other stakeholders ................................................................... 52 3.3.2 Accelerators’ entrepreneurial cycle of activities ............................................................................................................ 53 3.3.3 Accelerators’ sustainability models ..................................................................................................................................... 56 3.3.4 Accelerators’ impact measurement ..................................................................................................................................... 64 3.3.5 The evolution of accelerators ................................................................................................................................................. 71 3.3.5.1 Trends underpinning the emergence and growth of startup accelerators ........................................................... 71 3.3.5.2 Accelerators’ quantitative and geographical growth ................................................................................................ 75 3.3.5.3 New forms of accelerators – industry and vertical corporate accelerators ........................................................ 83 3.4 Pre-accelerators and Other Support Programs ................................................................................ 94 3.5 Accelerators and Pre-accelerators Learning Environments and Activities ......................... 101 Chapter 4 The Evolution of NUMA Startup Accelerator, France .............................................. 106 4.1 The Nonprofit Era – 2003-2015 .......................................................................................................... 106 4.1.1 Expansion and the birth of the accelerator and the Project Laboratory .......................................................... 108 4.2 NUMA and the Forprofit Era (2015 – Present) ............................................................................... 108 4.3 The Silicon Sentier and NUMA Accelerator - From Nonprofit to Forprofit .......................... 112 4.3.1 The pre-accelerator .................................................................................................................................................................