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

英国是全球新兴数字企业的领导者之一。然而，人们担心许多人会失败。该项目的目的是围绕一个关键的评估障碍进行讨论，该障碍影响新数字企业的繁荣能力。到目前为止，影响一家新的数字企业能否成长的一个未被认可的因素是行业分析师的支持。有传闻证据表明，这些重要的市场行为者支持的企业得到了极大的推动，相反，如果得不到这种形式的支持，它就会成为进步的障碍：分析师对技术采用者和投资者选择技术供应商施加影响。 我们把这个障碍称为“第二重要的投球”。我们将分析新的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的企业的可行性和潜力。虽然关于初创企业向投资者进行的第一次股权推介已经写了很多，但对于创业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。了解这些第二阶段的预期以及如何评估它们将为学者，政策制定者以及指导和支持数字企业的人做出关键贡献。 为了分析这些推介，我们借鉴了新兴的“估值研究”专业（这是从科学技术研究，金融社会学和经济社会学借来的分析技术在市场情况下的应用）。我们将通过概念化这些球场作为“代言经济”的一部分来扩展目前的工作。这个想法不仅体现了市场参与者为企业的生存能力或价值提供保证，还体现了他们如何/是否通过“支持”企业在帮助实现该价值方面发挥关键作用。这种概念化也为数字创业中潜在的新研究领域奠定了基础。 使用定性的方法，我们将直接观察数字企业如何准备和提供球场，从而提供这种球场的第一个“自然”的研究（大多数现有的研究投资球场往往是基于电视“投球比赛”或其他类似的事件）。我们还将进行半结构化面试，以了解A。评估员用来理解推销和评估初创企业的过程，以及B.然后他们如何向其他人推荐或宣传这些项目。 这项研究将确定导致某些企业获得认可和其他企业不被认可的因素，并提供有关政策和实际选择的见解，这些政策和实际选择可能有助于企业获得这些重要市场行为者的最大牵引力。为了宣传我们的研究结果，我们将实施详细的参与和传播策略，包括举办“持续专业发展”课程和为“行业大师班”做出贡献。最后，我们还将制作四篇期刊文章，两篇报纸文章，一篇期刊特刊和一本书。

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.