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

在全球前景看好的新数字项目方面，英国是领先者之一。然而，人们担心，许多公司将会倒闭。这个项目的目的是围绕一个关键的评估障碍展开讨论，这个障碍影响到新的数字企业蓬勃发展的能力。到目前为止，影响一家新的数字企业能否增长的一个因素尚未被认识到，那就是行业分析师的支持。有坊间证据表明，由这些重要市场参与者支持的企业得到了显著的提振，相反，在这种形式的支持不到位的情况下，它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。我们将这一障碍称为“第二重要的投球”。我们将分析新的数字企业向分析公司提出的‘推销’，并调查分析师随后如何与其他参与者相比评估该企业的生存能力和潜力。虽然关于初创企业将向投资者进行的第一次股权推介的报道很多，但对于风险投资公司如何向分析师进行第二次重要推介以赢得他们的认可，人们知之甚少。了解这两个推介的预期内容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风险投资的人做出关键贡献。为了分析这些推介，我们借鉴了新兴的估值研究专业(即借用科学技术研究、金融社会学和经济社会学的分析技术在市场情况下的应用)。我们将通过将这些推介概念化来扩展目前的工作，将其作为“代言经济”的一部分。这一想法不仅体现了市场参与者对企业的生存能力或价值的保证，而且还体现了他们如何/是否通过支持企业来帮助实现这种价值的关键作用。这种概念化也为数字创业中一个潜在的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是如何准备和进行推销的，从而提供此类推销的第一个“自然化”研究(现有的大多数关于投资推销的研究往往基于电视转播的“推销比赛”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.他们如何继续向其他人推荐或宣传这些合资企业。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，并提供对政策和实际选择的见解，以帮助企业最大限度地吸引这些至关重要的市场参与者。为了宣传我们的调查结果，我们将实施一项详细的参与和传播战略，其中包括举办一项“持续专业发展”课程，并为“行业大师班”做出贡献。最后，我们还将发表四篇期刊文章，两篇报纸文章，一期期刊特刊和一本书。

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.