**4. Results**

#### **4.1 Design phase of technology entrepreneurship**

 Eleven of the 12 companies studied have experimented with the design stage of technology entrepreneurship. The twelfth is still in this phase.

Design phase success and resilience factors.

*New Perspectives for Technological Entrepreneurship in the Age of Change: Between Success… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109321*

Success factors and related barriers are classified into five dimensions: Human Capital, Technological Capital, Structural Capital, and Relationship Capital.

Contributing human capital to success and resilience.

During this phase, it is important to consider the following success factor: human capital. To develop a good business plan, the entrepreneur must have a good skill of the trade. In addition, he must know "what customers need or will want" according to interviews #1, #2, and #3. Other interviews (#4, #5, #6) illustrated understanding the evolution of the market to offer, at the right time, the product that will respond to the problem faced by the user. This is consistent with several authors [36, 37, 39], which highlight the importance of using your human capital to know the user of your product. The authors then insist on the fact that it is as much a priority to understand your customer as to know your market in a global way.

In addition, according to respondents, "the entrepreneur who has a good knowledge of his customers and who puts forward the characteristics of his product" (interviews #7, #8, #9, and #11) plays a major role in the success of the design of the innovation. Respondents also emphasized the importance of having a good team to be able to succeed in the design phase. In addition, "Having good collaborators you trust and who are more competent than you" will determine the success of the technology entrepreneurship project (interview #6). Thus, one of the success factors of R&D projects is human capital [35–37, 39] since it is necessary to "have the right people to complete the project" (interview #4).

Since the employees of the technology entrepreneur have a decisive influence on his project, it is relevant to focus on the relational capital including stakeholders and their contributions during the design phase of the technological product.

Contribution of relational capital in the success of the design phase.

This research project identified several components of the relationship capital that provide support to the technology entrepreneur in his project. Several contributions were identified: technical contributions, structuring of the project, building a network of contacts, and seeking funding.

In terms of technical contribution, several stakeholders supported the technology entrepreneur, including, among others: research firms, suppliers, and university research laboratories, etc. These different organizations have provided the necessary knowledge, information, and skills to support technological innovation. The entrepreneur in interview #8 mentions the role of investors in access to equipment and infrastructure: "Our financial partners have given us access to workspaces, facilities and other equipment, etc." Other stakeholders, such as future customers, voluntarily lent themselves to technical tests to validate the idea of technological innovation: "This company allowed us to experiment, knowing that it would regenerate energy savings for them" (Interview #11). This statement corroborates the opinion of two authors [16, 36, 37] that highlights the need to work with the client, generate the success of his entrepreneurship, and foster his resilience.

As part of the structuring of the project, the technology entrepreneur can call on an entrepreneurship advisor who can accompany him in his project (interview #4). He can use patent agents to provide him with the necessary information and feedback: "I contacted my patent agent to verify the existence of such a project" (interview #6). The technology entrepreneur can call on incubators (interview #9) or university development companies (interview #11). Finally, the protection of the technological project requires a good lawyer from the beginning of the project: "A good lawyer, from the beginning. Just because it's cheap doesn't mean it's good" (Interview #10).

#### *Entrepreneurship – New Insights*

Finally, many issues force entrepreneurs to call on lawyers from the beginning: intellectual property, procedures to separate from former employers, etc.

With a view to building a network of contacts to validate the idea of innovation, respondents mentioned several possible trajectories: professional organizations (interviews #3 #5 #7, and #10), trade clubs (interviews #2 and #9), incubators (interview #11), and accounting managers (interviews #4, #9, and #10). These leads corroborate the literature. Indeed, professional associations and trade groups are opportunities to identify new opportunities. They are also a source of relevant information. Accountancy managers can help the entrepreneur by giving him the benefit of their network of contacts and thus giving him access to clients. As a result, actors involved in financing can become accessible through this network of contacts.

Finally, during the design phase, the search for funding is necessary. Several respondents mentioned using bank managers, microfinance institutions (interviews #4, #8, and #9), or private investors (interview #7). The contribution of managers is also mentioned in the literature. Other opportunities identified by respondents included government grants (interviews #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, and #11) and incubators (interviews #4 and #9). These possibilities are in line with the words of some authors [13, 16, 36]. According to this author, government grants provide funds to entrepreneurs who help them with their projects.

Contribution of technological capital to design success.

Respondents agreed that technological capital is the successor factor to technological entrepreneurship. They stress the positive correlation between the availability, quantity, and quality of technological resources and the successful design of technological innovation. This is the case for respondents #5, #6, #7, and #12. According to them, it is necessary to make "a marriage between knowledge of the market and the need, and knowledge of the technology available to meet this need." In addition, some respondents insisted that one should not "be married to technology," but rather choose technology appropriated and equated and evolve, if necessary, "technically strong people, to analyze technological choices" (interview #10), technical skills being key success factors.

Ultimately, there is general agreement that the success of the design phase of technological entrepreneurship is strongly due to the quality of human capital (level of training, experience, business/technical competence, management, trust, etc.). Then comes relational capital (business network, customer relations, technical and financial partners). Finally, technology, structure, and finances also play a significant role in the success of entrepreneurship. On the other hand, the resilience of the design phase is the subject of little comment for reasons of its limitations in time.

#### **4.2 Implementation and development phase**

This phase, considered simplified [43], includes development and was carried out by nine of the 12 companies studied. While the other companies are still in this stage. Success factors of the implementation and development phase.

The various dimensions (Relational Capital, Human Capital, Financial Capital, Structural Capital, and Technological Capital) will be addressed in this phase.

Contributions of relational capital (market and users) to success and resilience. According to the respondents, the mastery of relational capital (customer relationship, knowledge of the market and the user, stakeholder management) remains important in the implementation and development of technological innovation (interviews #3, #5#7, and #8). In addition, for some respondents (interviews #3,

#### *New Perspectives for Technological Entrepreneurship in the Age of Change: Between Success… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109321*

#5#7, and #9), the goal is not to understand the need, but to find a solution (appropriate technology) to the problem detected. Understanding the market is then one of the success factors of the technological project: the relevance of the solution to the identified problem. The mobilization of the first customers to test the product is then necessary: "It takes first customers who will try. " (Interview # 9). This ties in with another success factor of this phase, which is to "be 'challenged' as quickly as possible" (interview #6).

Contributing Technology Capital to Success and Resilience.

According to the respondents, it is relevant to perform several tests and correct errors or overcome technological challenges that come your way. In addition, risks of technology implementations exist, and some respondents point out that they can become significant obstacles when they are not anticipated: "we have not seen the risk of implementation at the level of certain technologies […] Implement them at the time and in the cost that we had anticipated, on this, we had more difficulties" (interviews #6 and #9). In addition, respondents noted the splitting of information when interacting with various collaborators, such as suppliers.

Contribution of Financial Capital to Success and Resilience.

The respondents mentioned the cost and working capital requirement, which is often higher than expected during the implementation phase: "Financing at this stage is very difficult." (Interview # 5). "There is a much greater chance of a failure in terms of funding than in terms of technology." (Interview # 8). Therefore, it is possible to solve these problems through "government grants and aid" (interview #9), for example. The literature also deals extensively with the issue of financing as a cause of success/failure and resilience of technological projects [1, 5, 6, 8, 13, 16].

Contributing Human Capital to Success and Resilience.

Many authors [1, 8, 13, 16, 39, 44] highlight that the success of technology projects is influenced by the entrepreneur's management skills. Respondents point to management obstacles, particularly related with the satisfaction of financial partners and shareholders, which makes this phase "very risky." Shareholders can leave if anything less clear happens (interview #4). In addition, it is communication management, interpersonal management, and partner relationship management that are mentioned by respondents as causes of success/failure and resilience. For example, it is necessary to keep the partners informed of the real problems going on and therefore of the real situation. This led one respondent to state that " choosing an experienced financial partner is important, as it will facilitate the management of communications with these partners" (interviews #8 and #10). While communications management was an element that emerged from the interviews, so it was interpersonal and time management. It is easy to underestimate the interpersonal conflict and the time required to complete this phase: "it put pressure on the entire organization" (interview #11).

#### **4.3 Marketing phase and consolidation**

This phase includes production, marketing, and consolidation. Eight of the 12 companies in our sample are in this stage. According to respondents, this is the phase in which entrepreneurs experience enormous cash flow difficulties.

Success and resilience factors of the marketing phase and consolidation.

The various dimensions (relationship, human/management, technology, finance) will be addressed in this phase.

Contribution of relational capital to success and resilience.

The importance of relationship capital in the success and resilience of marketing (production and marketing) and sustainability activities was highlighted by respondents: "To produce, market and withstand market shocks, you need to be able to have a good business network, to have people you can count on." (Interviews #3, #5, and #8). Two other factors of success and resilience were then identified. An SME with limited resources seems to have difficulty accessing the market: "market acceptability is never obvious" (interview #6). In addition, it seems necessary to "have a global presence with certain employees, to have this feedback from the market. I also feel the competition, what is happening, to be able to develop the right products" (interview #11). This then makes it possible to improve the product. In addition, to commercialize innovation, market data are needed to ensure product diffusion, growth, and development.

Stakeholder roles in the marketing phase.

Several roles have been identified: access resources, access services, and finally, access to a network of contacts. With respect to *Access to Resources* (interviews #4 and #9), interviewees emphasized the importance of financial, physical, and informational resources, as they play an important role in the execution of launch activities and thus promote success. For services, responses refer to government departments, standard bodies, lawyers, etc. (interviews #6 and #9). Finally, access to networks of relevant contacts promotes support, pooling and increases resilience (interviews #1 and #3).

Contribution of human capital to the success and resilience of the marketing phase and consolidation.

Having competent human capital was seen as a factor in success and resilience by many respondents. Thus, two criteria must be considered: "First criteria: someone who knows his target market very well, he must be in the target market" (interviews #2, #5, and #8). Second criterion: someone who has sufficient technical knowledge. (Interview #7). Since then, several authors [13, 16, 44]; Lacoursièr argue that the most important factor in the success of research and technology development as well as its resilience is human resources. Since the human resources of the technology entrepreneur exert a decisive influence on his project, it may then be relevant to focus on the necessary stakeholders and their roles during the marketing phase of the technological product.

Contributing Technology Capital to Success and Resilience.

This dimension was addressed by several respondents during this phase. It's necessary that the entrepreneur has state-of-the-art technology to deliver quality products. This will ensure its positioning in the competitive environment and therefore increases its resilience: "but without technology, you cannot be efficient in the process of your project." (interviews #5 and #8).

Contribution of financial capital to success and resilience.

An SME has limited financial resources, which can be a significant obstacle during the marketing phase: "Since you are an SME, you cannot make huge marketing efforts." (interview #8). They can therefore be a factor that determines the success of the commercialization of technological entrepreneurship projects. In addition, inadequate funding is the fundamental barrier to establishing technology companies. This is due to the difficulty of estimating cash flows and the volatility of this type of business (interview #1, #3, #9).

#### **4.4 Best practices for the success and resilience of the tech entrepreneur**

This section presents good practices related to the success and resilience factors identified by the 12 technology entrepreneurs. Each of these good practices covers the *New Perspectives for Technological Entrepreneurship in the Age of Change: Between Success… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109321*

different dimensions (relational capital, technological capital, financial capital, management, and people). Moreover, these good practices are different according to the three phases of the entrepreneurial innovation process which is in the following **Table 2**.

#### **5. Implications for research**

In the first place, thanks to its focus on public and private companies, our study goes against the current of the literature above focused only on private companies and very often large. Therefore, our results demonstrate interest in future research on the human and relational dimensions of an organization, including social practices to increase opportunities for success and resilience.

Second, our study sheds light on the role of intellectual and social capital in the process of success and resilience of technological entrepreneurship. Indeed, while a few previous studies have examined the role of intellectual capital in the performance of technological innovation projects, little qualitative research has been conducted to date, to our knowledge of the resilience of technological entrepreneurship projects. Our study demonstrates that social practices that include the intellectual capital of the business can be effective for the success and resilience of the design, implementation, consolidation, and marketing of technology entrepreneurship.

Finally, our results confirm that intellectual capital management practices including social and technological capital contribute effectively to the three main phases of technological entrepreneurship. Therefore, it would be relevant to take these dimensions into account in future models on the success and resilience of technological entrepreneurship. Our results shed light on how technology entrepreneurs can successfully run their projects and make them resilient.

#### **6. Limitations and future research**

Some specificities of our sample, related with the size and process of entrepreneurship, constitute limitations, but also interesting future research perspectives. We have chosen in this study to focus on small public and private organizations, as all are, by nature, more limited in resources. Similarly, we have adopted the qualitative approach. Therefore, we are not able to generalize our results and say that they apply to all organizations. Therefore, some questions deserve to be explored in future research, including the quantitative method, with a large sample size.

Finally, an ambitious research perspective would be to conduct new empirical studies in three different locations to make comparisons. We could then move closer to a consensus on the question of the contribution of intellectual capital to the success and resilience of the process of technological entrepreneurship in a changing context.

#### **7. Conclusion**

This study made it possible to identify and understand the factors of success and resilience of technological entrepreneurship in the era of change. It fostered the visibility of intellectual capital as a determining factor in the design, implementation, and marketing of the technology entrepreneur. Nevertheless, given the nature of the qualitative exploratory approach of this study, the aim was to construct theoretically,



#### *New Perspectives for Technological Entrepreneurship in the Age of Change: Between Success… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109321*

and therefore, the results cannot be generalized. In addition, 12 enterprises were the subject of semistructured interviews. It should also be noted that the Tiwari [43] innovation process model used was not perfect. The fact that it is simplified has made it easier to analyze the results, but an approximation is then made, since entrepreneurial innovation is not necessarily a linear process. One of the entrepreneurs started his project directly in the implementation phase, for example.

About future research, researchers have several options. It may be relevant to dwell on the different alternative strategies of human capital, relational capital, and financing of technological entrepreneurship projects. A consensus emerged that the financial, human, and relational dimensions were vital for each of the three phases of the model adopted. To seek to generalize the results, a confirmatory approach could be adopted to estimate the effects of the identified factors in the success and resilience of each phase of the innovation process. Several stakeholders and their roles as well as technological capital would also be relevant to deepen. This then makes it possible to present the results of the technological product, but also to detect new avenues for innovation. The mentoring relationship and business network identified by respondents may also be the subject of further study. Finally, the role of public and private support bodies and the relationship between a university external to the project and the latter are avenues to be explored. From a managerial point of view, future entrepreneurs can use the results of this study as guidelines to adopt good practices based on these success and resilience factors, from the beginning of their projects.
