EARLY VALIDATION OF HIGH-TECH STARTUPS BY USING (BIG) DATA

This study focuses on high-tech startups in the Norwegian context and investigates the use of data and/or big data to support validation at the early stage of development. Early-stage startups often fail due to lack of validation and incur loss to all the stakeholders involved in the process. Early validation through a lean or agile approach can help these young companies to manoeuvre through a turbulent external environment. The results from the study show that big data and/or data can act as a support at this stage but is not necessarily the sole solution to the problem. There are various barriers that need to be addressed for successful data-based validation. Based on multi-case study research method, this study proposes an early validation user guide (EVU) to overcome these barriers and make data adoption easier. The EVU can provide startups support to show how and when to use data and/or big data depending on the market context. The study thus contributes to the current body of knowledge of innovation and entrepreneurship concerning validation for early stage startups and can also guide practitioners in validating their startup ideas.