Developing technology-based ventures and innovation ecosystems: an outcome-based perspective

Abstract

Technology-based ventures (TBVs) are critical drivers of innovation, economic competitiveness, and societal transformation. Yet their development is often hindered by multifaceted barriers that prevent them from advancing from early stages to scalable enterprises, particularly in emerging regions such as Latin America, where entrepreneurial ecosystems remain fragmented and underdeveloped. Although prior research has examined the challenges of TBVs, existing studies tend to treat barriers in isolation, lack a temporal perspective on their evolution, and fail to provide integrative frameworks that connect venture-level development with ecosystem orchestration and governance. This dissertation addresses these gaps by adopting a multi-level, outcome-driven perspective that links the internal dynamics of TBVs with the collective orchestration of innovation ecosystems. It comprises five articles. The first presents a systematic review of barriers to TBVs, introducing the concepts of alignment capabilities and the entrepreneurial misalignment spiral. The second develops a stage-based framework, demonstrating how challenges evolve from internal in early stages to external in advanced stages, based on empirical evidence from 23 Latin American ventures. Building on these insights, the third article introduces an outcome-based model for orchestrating innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems, shifting focus from activities to long-term results. The fourth article then proposes an outcome-driven model that aligns milestone-oriented venture development with ecosystem interventions, enabling synchronization between internal progress and external support. Finally, the fifth operationalizes this approach by providing a measurement toolkit for data-driven governance, ensuring that outcomes can be systematically tracked and enhanced. Collectively, these contributions advance theory by integrating resource-based and dynamic capabilities perspectives with ecosystem orchestration, offering a novel outcome-driven framework for understanding and enabling TBV development. Practically, the dissertation provides actionable tools for policymakers, accelerators, universities, investors, and entrepreneurs to design tailored interventions, govern ecosystems through evidence-based strategies, and foster sustainable growth of technology-based ventures in emerging contexts.