Peter Vogel

Opportunities are a core construct in the field of entrepreneurship. Despite recent advances suggesting the separation of ideas from opportunities, the field still suffers from conceptual deficiencies. This article builds on this distinction and leverages insights from creativity and innovation management literature to propose a framework that allows tracing the evolution of a venture from first insight to exploitation. It discusses real-time/longitudinal and retrospective measurement techniques from the fields of entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovation management to empirically capture the framework. Several research questions for future studies are provided, concluding with a discussion of implications for research and practice.

BACKGROUND: Baseplate micromotion of the reverse shoulder glenoid component can lead to implant loosening. We hypothesized that a remotely positioned displacement gage measures elastic deformation of the system rather than actual micromotion at the implant/bone interface. METHODS: Reverse glenoid components were implanted into polyurethane blocks of 3 different densities. A 700 N compressive load was maintained and a vertical 700 N shear load was applied for 1000 cycles. In addition to the typical gage measurement, a digital image analysis of micromotion at the implant/block interface using high resolution cameras was performed. The measurements were validated on human specimens. A finite element model was implemented to study the isolated effect of block deformation on baseplate displacements. FINDINGS: With the gage, typically reported micromotions were measured. Two orders of magnitude lower micromotions were detected using interface image-based analysis. The finite element simulation showed that elastic deformation alone can cause micromotion magnitudes as measured with displacement gages. Polyurethane blocks of 20 and 15 lbs per cubic foot density best reproduced micromotions as measured on human specimens. INTERPRETATION: We found considerably less relative micromotion at the implant/bone interface than previously assumed. Gage measurements quantify elastic deformation and not true interface micromotion. High resolution digital imaging at the implant/bone interface is strongly recommended for an accurate assessment of reverse glenoid component micromotion. Tests should further adopt 20 or 15 pcf bone test surrogates. Further studies are required to identify the failure modes encountered in vivo, and a corresponding in vitro testing methodology can then be developed.

Entrepreneurship research mainly focused on linear effects of human capital on venture performance, while recent publications have pointed towards non-linear effects. We investigate non-linear effects of both general and specific human capital on nascent venture performance. Based on data from PSED II, we study U-shaped relationships between general education, management, industry, and startup experience and nascent venture progress. We find that while general education, management experience, and startup experience have an inverse U-shaped relationship, industry experience has a U-shaped relationship with venture progress. Our findings have implications for theory and practice.

Entrepreneurship research mainly focused on linear effects of human capital on venture performance, while recent publications have pointed towards non-linear effects. We investigate non-linear effects of both general and specific human capital on nascent venture performance. Based on data from PSED II, we study U-shaped relationships between general education, management, industry, and startup experience and nascent venture progress. We find that while general education, management experience, and startup experience have an inverse U-shaped relationship, industry experience has a U-shaped relationship with venture progress. Our findings have implications for theory and practice.

Medical devices save lives and improve the health and quality of life. The global market for medical devices has increased from $ 245 billion in 2005 to $ 368 billion in 2014 with an estimate of reaching $ 440 billion by 2018.1,2,3 Yet with ever increasing healthcare costs, the affordability of high quality treatment is becoming more expensive for all involved stakeholders - patients, doctors, hospitals and insurance companies - threatening to widen the gap between those that have access to the best treatments and those that do not. It is therefore of critical importance that we foster inclusive innovation in healthcare by leveraging novel technological advancements and by building a multi-stakeholder ecosystem. This project seeks to address the following two inter-related topics: (1) Assessing emerging trends in MedTech and their potential for increasing healthcare access of otherwise excluded communities; in particular trends in 3D printing. (2) Employing a multi-stakeholder ecosystem approach to study a variety of approaches for leveraging these new technologies and ensuring that otherwise excluded communities have equal access to these medical technologies.

Principal Topic A growing body of research highlights that individuals with a broad set of skills and experiences are more likely to become entrepreneurs than those with a narrow base of knowledge, yet little is known about how breadth of knowledge affects start-up performance. In particular, extant theory generates contrasting accounts of this relationship, and the scant available evidence is inconclusive. Moreover, because this research tends to focus primarily on individual characteristics, it often ignores the social and contextual factors that may interact with founder human capital to influence outcomes in this regard. We seek to fill in this critical gap in knowledge by generating a framework that explores the impact of breadth of knowledge on new firm survival, both individually, and in conjunction with external knowledge and emotional support. Method Our empirical analysis is based on a sample of formerly unemployed firm founders that started companies with the support of dedicated government programs in Western Switzerland. Data collection was performed using a survey instrument that was delivered to participants through the government agencies. We calculated the probability of new venture failure using discrete-time event history analysis. Results Our findings reveal that the probability of new venture survival significantly decreases with breadth of industry experience. However, as the breadth of founder experience increases, survival chances are increasing in increasing amount of external support. We conclude by discussing implications of our findings for entrepreneurship, organizational theory, and public policy.