START-UPS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE NEW TECHNO-SCIENTIFIC PARADIGM

Buryak Viktor Vladimirovich
V.I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University
Simferopol, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Natural Science Philosophy, Faculty of Philosophy, Taurida Academy

Abstract
The paper offers the analysis of the prospects for the development of a high-tech economy. In a high-tech society, economic activity is determined by strategic state goals and personal interests of citizens. The economic growth is largely dependent on rationally based state and commercial investments into different segments of high-end economic projects. The digitization of all activities in post-industrial societies is but one among other important aspects of a high-performing economy. Of importance are the infrastructure and logistics aspects of the modern economy. To provide the dynamic development of economic activity, specific business actors are needed, such as start-ups and ICO’s. As a result, the digitization of economic space is planned in compliance with relevant challenges within a highly competitive business environment. High-tech start-ups serve as high-speed drivers in the context of the formation of a new techno-scientific paradigm. As the world economy undergoes constant evolution, the functions of effective business actors go increasingly often from separate state structures (agencies) and corporations to mobile micro-organizations (start-ups and ICO’s). Funding policies and logistics are gradually changing towards a quantitative increase in number of venture investments. The specific characteristics of funding start-ups, in the sphere of economic activity, are implemented due to the availability of original intellectual projects. The economic parameters are defined by legislative initiatives, availability of high technologies and an objective "corridor of opportunities" determined by the techno-scientific paradigm. Since the new techno-scientific paradigm is a dynamic phenomenon, its configuration is also dependent on the effective operation of high-tech start-ups and ICO’s. Positive effects and risks characterizing the economic activity of high-tech start-ups, are in need of an interdisciplinary analysis.

Keywords: digital economy, high-tech start-ups, ICO, new techno-scientific paradigm


Category: Philosophy

Article reference:
Buryak V.V. Start-ups in the context of the new techno-scientific paradigm // Humanities scientific researches. 2019. № 2 [Electronic journal]. URL: https://human.snauka.ru/en/2019/02/25623

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Introduction

When analyzing the interdisciplinary aspects of the information society development, it is necessary to survey the main drivers of highly profitable economic activity. Productive economic activity of citizens in the modern society is largely determined by rational investments. Start-ups undoubtedly give acceleration to the modern economy. These can be defined as such commercial enterprises that carry out original forms of innovative business.Their goal is to collect super profits through satisfying consumer demand by means of creating a highly competitive business model based on a scalable business platform for the effective promotion of a product or service. Those who are tired of the debilitating corporate race for promotion, have an opportunity to radically change their lifestyle by making their own business. Rob Kornblum [17] believes that running one’s own start-up company is not only quite an achievable goal, but even a necessary step for enterprising people. The term startup company (startup, start-up) was first introduced on the pages of Forbes magazine (1973), and later in Business Week (1977). Startup is commonly seen as a company that has very high commercial risks, but in case of success provides a high and quick profit [3; 26]. According to Erick Ries startup is a commercial enterprise that creates a new original product in a highly competitive and uncertain environment [24]. The new techno-scientific paradigm considerably affects, be it directly or indirectly, the dynamics of economic activity. Along with classically organized enterprises and corporations, the number of economic micro and macroobjects with an ultrashort historical distance of economic activity has radically increased in recent decades [31; 27]. Among such “fast” commercial companies one can distinguish start-ups and ICO’s [2]. Since the world economy always holds on to hope, be it justified or illusory, for some hidden original organizational and technological resources, the topic of start-ups (the determinants of their origin and economic efficiency) appears to be quite relevant. Back in the early 1990s, the term had already been widely used in academic and quasi-economic literature (popular newspapers and magazines). Even greater debates about startup companies “flared up” in relation to the economic collapse of a number of super successful dotcoms (dot com boom, Internet stock bubble) in the context of analyzing the causes and consequences of the crisis [7; 20; 33; 23; 32].

Rapid economic growth is the main distinguishing feature characteristic for start-ups. Start-ups are, in fact, historically “instant” pilot project organizations / teams aimed at an optimal search for high-performance and dynamic business activities. The most frequently used today phrase “digital economy” must be backed by investments and certain breakthrough business models. Russia’s digital economy trend should be seen today in the context of the world economy [1]. Rajat Bhargava and Will Herman believe that investors, venture capitalists, business incubators and accelerators play a deciding role for the start-up ecosystem [5]. Business incubators are organizationsinvolved in curatorial support of beginning businessmen at any stage of a startup development. Business accelerators (startup accelerators) serve as specialized structures for supporting startup companies.

Start-upas a driver for a high performance economy

Under conditions of a turbulent economy, the business space is getting radically transformed which results in that the role of start-ups (mobile economic organizations) grows up. Introducing an original business idea and its successful commercialization is not as easy for any startup company. In addition to economic aspects of a wide use of startup activities, of essence are also such topics as risks and competition. Exponential growth in the welfare of the majority of people is ensured not only by high technologies and start-ups, but also by legitimacy of business activities and transparency of work ethics. Among economic and reputational criteria for receiving investments into start-ups are the quantity of employees, the quality of the company’s verified “genealogy”, and a sufficiently innovative high-tech product as the output of a technological cycle. The growth in number of start-ups around the world in recent years and their highly risky and sometimes excess funding have become the focus of a wide public interest and resonance [28; 10; 34; 25; 8].

The ultra-competitive startup world where start-ups can often be seen to crash and burn because their leaders tend to get addicted to their own business ideas and forget about historical examples of business failures, however attracts a lot of entrepreneurs. Randy Komisar and Jantoon Reigersman argue that only those can achieve a guaranteed victory in the modern business environment who are capable of quickly learning the insider information about what it takes to build a stable and highly effective venture [16]. Despite the fact that the majority of start-ups eventually fail, many failures could have been prevented. Erick Ries sees the functioning of a start-up as an activity of a specific business structure that is established to produce a fundamentally new product or service in the face of extreme market uncertainty. The most efficient start-ups survive and quickly adapt to a highly competitive business environment by means of recruiting the creativity shown by their employees. Among the factor of effectiveness are validated learning, rapid scientific experimentation, as well as counter-intuitive practices of finding non-standard solutions for complex exclusive tasks, which greatly helps in minimizing temporal cycles needed for making a new product.

Being in a constant contact with potential consumers lets the employees of a successful start-up to easily change the direction of searching for optimal product parameters [24; 25]. Innovations are seen as a characteristic feature of start-ups in the context of the information society. Start-ups contribute indirectly to a development of a business culture based on the constant use of innovations [9]. Having analyzed the reasons underlying the explosive economic growth by such world-famous corporations in the field of digital economy as Tinder, Bumble, Facebook, Twitter, Apple and Dropbox, Cliff Lerner offers the tactics for any startup to achieve a mega success. He has created a web-site with a goal to help beginners in business in their attempts to establish their first start-up. In his book Explosive Growth which is meant for ambitious people focused on making business the author in a convincing and inspiring manner proposes a step-by-step strategy of achieving a maximum business success [18].

Start-up risks and bonuses

The main task to achieve by any start-up founder is seen in a successful translation of innovative ideas into a profitable and scalable business. Even highly competitive and original business ideas turn out to be not sufficient for a new start-up. According to Dan Lyons, doing start-up business in the digital economy environment is a matter of survival within a tech bubble [Lyons, 2017]. There is a widely accepted stereotype, the so-called tech startup mythology depicting a successful story of an “ordinary” start-up in the digital economy environment. A young and optimistic undertaker with an MBA degree challenges transnational corporations and puts forward a genius marketing business idea (cool idea). Then, (s)he overcomes the most difficult obstacles, quickly earning millions (or even billions) of dollars / euros eventually becoming a “superstar” in the world of modern business. Rand Fishkin demonstrates that the real story of the cruel world of private enterprise appears to be quite different. He believes that it is just necessary to be “at the right time in the right place” [12]. One is in need of a systematic audit of the market segment that the startup company intends to “conquer”, a critical analysis of business development hypotheses based on the rational technical and economic project feasibility study.

According to Donatas Jonikas, there are real dangers / risks of focusing on the implementation of a start-up project unless entrepreneurs have not completed the basic procedures regarding logistics and marketing [14]. In terms of financial risks, startups are similar to the crowdfunding system [29; 30; 11; 13]. However there are significant differences. Startup companies are always hoping for quick superprofits while crowdfunding implies voluntary investments (sort of humanitarian assistance). Investments are a kind of business game with high profit expectations and low real incomes. It is obvious that all investors seek to maximize their chances of success. To do so, they are trying to rely on the most effective business strategies. When investing into start-ups, it is always necessary to analyze possible causes for the mistakes made (for both sides) which is quite a valuable experience [4]. Hype (annoying over-advertising aimed at directing investment flows “in the right place”) raised around a successful startup company, should not be misleading.As shown by Jerrold Kaplan [15] and John Carreyrou [6], the legendary startups from the Silicon Valley have many “skeletons in the closet”. That is why there must be a reliable “roadmap” for each start-up to ensure conducting a successful business and minimizing risks. When a start-up gets growing and transforming, a clear road map is a must. To ensure economic success, it is preferable to devide all the way into several significant stages [19]. In order to collect a quick return on investments, founders of each particular start-up elaborate such a road map which should represent an effective strategy for a short-term and long-term planning. The most risky segment of start-up project management deals with the questions of necessary and sufficient funding. Due to the association between socio-economic activities and high-tech start-ups, there may increase the risks of dangerous transformation of society, threats of dehumanization and other risks [21]. Under conditions of the digital economy, investing into start-ups can be done with the use of crypto currencies which carries significant risks in view of their high volatility. The main motivating factors for investors are always a potential demand, highly competitive characteristics and economic prospects of each particular project.

Conclusion.

Under conditions of digital economy, promising start-up projects can be effectively carried out by relying on intellectual and managerial resources and sufficient financial investments.The digital economy is a part of available economic activities, and its development depends entirely on legal and other factors to ensure rapid technological breakthroughs. Similar to any economic activity, start-ups imply both obvious and latent risks, which can be pre-calculated and minimized. Any positive economic initiatives (e.g. conducting startup projects) are in high demand today and deserve to become an object of an interdisciplinary research.


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