HOW TO CREATE INTERDEPENDENT AND COMPLEMENTARY NETWORKS TO CONSOLIDATE AN ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEM

Abstract

The project adopts a systemic perspective, from an epistemological viewpoint, to understand the internal dynamics and quality of a technically perfect ecosystem. Its aim is to demonstrate how an entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) functions and address the question of how a municipality can become an EE. The objective is to qualitatively analyze startups that create productive value within a municipality (to be defined) considered a technically perfect EE. By examining this interdependent and complementary network, we intend to showcase how it operates in generating such startups. Ultimately, this research contributes to the debate on how EEs function and generate productive value through startups, leading to theoretical insights, managerial implications, policy recommendations, and social contributions. The approach will be qualitative, and the study exploratory. We will employ a case study method, focusing on startup companies as the units of analysis. Data collection will involve in-depth personal interviews with key actors involved in consolidating this EE, including technology park managers, startup founders, municipal authorities, banks, investors, innovation hubs, educational and research institutions, etc., all of which have contributed to the productive entrepreneurship of these companies. Data analysis will be conducted using content analysis. The results will present the interdependent and complementary network that we aim to investigate, demonstrating how this network has consolidated the chosen municipality's EE.