The Second Most Important Pitch: How Digital Start-Ups Must Navigate the Endorsement Economy To Scale

英国是世界上有前途的新数字企业的领导者之一。然而，人们担心许多人会失败。该项目的目的是促进围绕影响新数字企业繁荣能力的关键评估障碍的讨论。影响一家新的数字企业能否成长的一个迄今未被认识到的因素是行业分析师的支持。有轶事证据表明，那些得到这些重要市场参与者支持的企业得到了显著的推动，相反，如果没有这种形式的支持，它就会成为进步的障碍或障碍：分析师对技术采用者和投资者的技术供应商选择施加影响。我们把这个障碍称为“第二重要的音调”。我们将分析新数字企业向分析公司所做的“推销”，并调查分析师随后如何评估与其他参与者相比，该企业的可行性和潜力。关于初创企业向投资者进行的第一次股权推介，已经有很多报道，但对于企业如何向分析师进行第二次重要推介，以赢得他们的认可，却知之甚少。了解这些第二次推介的预期是什么，以及如何对它们进行评估，将对学者、政策制定者以及那些指导和支持数字企业的人做出关键贡献。为了分析这些宣传，我们借鉴了新兴的“估值研究”专业（这是从科学与技术研究、金融社会学和经济社会学中借鉴的分析技术应用于市场情况）。我们将通过将这些宣传概念化为“代言经济”的一部分来扩展当前的工作。这个想法不仅抓住了市场参与者对企业的生存能力或价值提供保证，还抓住了他们如何/是否通过“支持”企业在帮助实现价值方面发挥关键作用。这一概念也为数字创业的潜在新研究领域奠定了基础。使用定性方法，我们将直接观察数字企业如何准备和提供推介，从而提供这种推介的第一个“归化”研究（大多数现有的投资推介研究往往基于电视转播的“推介比赛”或其他类似活动）。我们还将进行半结构化访谈，以了解a.评估人员用来理解推介和评估初创企业的流程，以及b.他们如何继续向他人推荐或宣传这些企业。这项研究将确定导致某些企业得到认可而其他企业没有得到认可的因素，并提供有关政策和实际选择的见解，这些选择可能有助于企业获得这些重要市场参与者的最大牵引力。为了宣传我们的研究结果，我们将实施一项详细的参与和传播策略，包括举办“持续专业发展”课程和举办“行业大师班”。最后，我们还将出版四篇期刊文章，两篇报纸文章，一本期刊特刊和一本书。

The UK is one of the leaders in promising new digital ventures worldwide. However, there are concerns that many will fail. The aim of this project is to foster a discussion around a pivotal evaluative hurdle that influences the ability of new digital ventures to prosper. One thus far unrecognised factor influencing whether a new digital venture can grow is the backing of industry analysts. There is anecdotal evidence that those ventures endorsed by these important market actors receive a significant boost and, conversely, where this form of backing is not forthcoming, it becomes a block or impediment to progress: analysts wield influence over technology adopters and investors regarding their choice of technology vendors. We term this hurdle the 'second most important pitch'. We will analyse the 'pitches' made by new digital ventures to analyst firms and investigate how the analysts subsequently assess the venture's viability and potential as compared to other players. While much has been written about the first equity pitch a start-up will make to an investor, little is known about how ventures make these second important pitches to analysts to win their endorsement. Understanding just what is expected in these second pitches and how they are evaluated will make a key contribution to academics, policymakers and those directing and supporting digital ventures. To analyse these pitches we draw on the emerging specialism of 'Valuation Studies' (which is the application to market situations of analytical techniques borrowed from Science and Technology Studies, Sociology of Finance, and Economic Sociology). We will extend this current work through conceptualising these pitches as part of an 'endorsement economy'. This idea captures not only that market actors provide assurances about the viability or value of a venture, but how/whether they play a key role in helping to realise that value through 'championing' a venture. This conceptualisation also lays the groundwork for a potential new area of study within Digital Entrepreneurship. Using a qualitative methodology, we will directly observe how digital enterprises prepare for and give pitches and thereby provide the first 'naturalised' study of this kind of pitch (most existing research on investment pitches tends to be based on televised 'pitching competitions' or other similar events). We will also conduct semi-structured interviews to understand a. the processes assessors use to make sense of the pitches and assess the start-ups, and b. how they may then go on to recommend or publicise these ventures to others. This study will identify the factors that lead to certain ventures being endorsed and others not, and provide insights into policy and practical options that might help ventures to gain maximum traction with these vital market actors. To publicise our findings, we will implement a detailed engagement and dissemination strategy that includes running a 'Continuing Professional Development' course and contributing to an 'industry masterclass'. Finally, we will also produce four journal articles, two newspaper articles, a journal special issue, and a book.