Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the research conducted in the field of sustainable entrepreneurship by attempting to identify and discuss the relationship between the level of sustainability and the financial performance achieved by Italian start-ups. Design/methodology/approach – To collect structured data, a survey was conducted in collaboration with the Start-up Intelligence Observatory of Politecnico di Milano. The survey was sent to a significant sample of CEOs and founders of start-ups and scale-ups in Italy and was organised in three macro-sections, with the aim of collecting data on demographics, approach towards sustainability and financial performance. Subsequently, data were interpreted, and hypotheses validated through appropriate statistical analyses, conducted using Stata. Findings – Results show that sustainable start-ups seem to have a better financial performance on average, both in terms of their ability to raise capital and in terms of turnover and annual revenue growth. Therefore, this paper supports the school of thought that argues that efforts undertaken in the domain of sustainability positively influence the financial performance of start-ups. Research limitations/implications – Due to the intrinsic characteristics of the sample, the results obtained can be considered as relevant for start-ups whose characteristics reflect those of the sample analysed. However, in order to generalise the implications, the biases currently present (e.g., strong geographic and sectoral concentration) need to be overcome by repeating the experiment on a more diversified sample. In addition, there are also some other biases intrinsic to the methodology used, which are related to the use of a survey. Originality/value – This study contributes to corroborating the theses supporting a direct correlation between sustainability and the financial performance of start-ups. Moreover, it ranks among the first of its kind conducted within the Italian ecosystem, contributing to the development of this line of research. The results obtained and the related considerations are intended to be a support for entrepreneurs, financiers and regulators in their sustainability related decision-making processes.
Scopo – Lo scopo di questo elaborato è contribuire alla ricerca condotta nel campo dell'imprenditoria sostenibile cercando di identificare e discutere la relazione tra il livello di sostenibilità e le performance finanziarie conseguite dalle start-up italiane. Progettazione/metodologia/approccio – Per raccogliere dati strutturati, è stato condotto un questionario in collaborazione con l'Osservatorio Startup Intelligence del Politecnico di Milano. Il questionario è stato inviato a un campione significativo di CEO e fondatori di start-up e scale-up del territorio nazionale ed è stato organizzato in tre macro-sezioni, con l'obiettivo di raccogliere dati demografici, relativi all'approccio alla sostenibilità e alle performance finanziarie. Successivamente, i dati sono stati interpretati e le ipotesi validate attraverso adeguate analisi statistiche, condotte tramite l’utilizzo di Stata. Risultati – I risultati ottenuti mostrano che le start-up sostenibili sembrano avere in media una migliore performance finanziaria, sia in termini di capacità di raccogliere capitali, sia per quanto riguarda il fatturato e la crescita annua del fatturato. Pertanto, il presente documento avvalora la scuola di pensiero che sostiene che gli sforzi intrapresi nel campo della sostenibilità influenzano positivamente la performance finanziaria delle start-up. Limitazioni/implicazioni della ricerca – A causa delle caratteristiche intrinseche del campione, i risultati ottenuti si possono ritenere come rilevanti per start-up le cui qualità ben riflettono quelle del sample analizzato. Tuttavia, per poterne generalizzare le implicazioni, è necessario che i bias attualmente presenti (e.g., forte concentrazione geografica e settoriale) vengano superati, ripetendo l’esperimento su un campione maggiormente diversificato. Inoltre, sono presenti anche alcuni altri bias intrinsechi alla metodologia utilizzata, ovvero relativi all’utilizzo di un questionario. Originalità/valore – Questo studio contribuisce a corroborare le tesi a sostegno di una correlazione diretta tra sostenibilità e performance finanziarie delle start-up. Inoltre, esso si classifica tra i primi del suo tipo realizzati all’interno dell’ecosistema italiano, contribuendo allo sviluppo di questo filone di ricerca. I risultati ottenuti e le relative considerazioni sono volte a rappresentare un supporto per imprenditori, finanziatori e regolatori nei loro processi decisionali in tema di sostenibilità.
The impact of sustainability on start-ups' performance: an empirical research on the italian start-up ecosystem
MAZZINI, MATTEO;PETROLI, MATTEO
2021/2022
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the research conducted in the field of sustainable entrepreneurship by attempting to identify and discuss the relationship between the level of sustainability and the financial performance achieved by Italian start-ups. Design/methodology/approach – To collect structured data, a survey was conducted in collaboration with the Start-up Intelligence Observatory of Politecnico di Milano. The survey was sent to a significant sample of CEOs and founders of start-ups and scale-ups in Italy and was organised in three macro-sections, with the aim of collecting data on demographics, approach towards sustainability and financial performance. Subsequently, data were interpreted, and hypotheses validated through appropriate statistical analyses, conducted using Stata. Findings – Results show that sustainable start-ups seem to have a better financial performance on average, both in terms of their ability to raise capital and in terms of turnover and annual revenue growth. Therefore, this paper supports the school of thought that argues that efforts undertaken in the domain of sustainability positively influence the financial performance of start-ups. Research limitations/implications – Due to the intrinsic characteristics of the sample, the results obtained can be considered as relevant for start-ups whose characteristics reflect those of the sample analysed. However, in order to generalise the implications, the biases currently present (e.g., strong geographic and sectoral concentration) need to be overcome by repeating the experiment on a more diversified sample. In addition, there are also some other biases intrinsic to the methodology used, which are related to the use of a survey. Originality/value – This study contributes to corroborating the theses supporting a direct correlation between sustainability and the financial performance of start-ups. Moreover, it ranks among the first of its kind conducted within the Italian ecosystem, contributing to the development of this line of research. The results obtained and the related considerations are intended to be a support for entrepreneurs, financiers and regulators in their sustainability related decision-making processes.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/195285