Entry Dynamics of Startup Companies and the Drivers of Their Growth in the Nascent Blockchain Industry

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to discuss the characteristics of the blockchain (hereinafter “BT”) industry and factors that affect the success of BT-based startup companies. Due to the novelty of BT technology, the current period of its development is associated with a high number of newly emerging firms that are predominant in the BT industry. The study seeks to address the two main research questions: What are the key characteristics of the BT industry? What are the factors that determine the success of BT-based companies? To answer these questions, the method of the systematic literature review was applied. The discussion of the reviewed 43 publications led to the classification of literature sources into six categories, including research streams on BT in the contexts of entrepreneurial finance, institutional theory, digital and social entrepreneurship, business models, and international business. The results suggested that the early success of the BT-based startups’ entry and growth related to the supportive entrepreneurial environments, a greater degree of regulatory clarity, the formation of strategic associations, entrepreneur’s active engagement in sharing expertise and shaping the regulations and standards, a profound business model, and experienced management. It is recommended that policymakers should support the creation of new ventures and the transfer of knowledge about BT. Managers of established companies should cooperate with startups to adopt BT applications into their business models. Future research should be based on empirical research studies, namely cluster analysis, to identify the determinants of success/failure of BT-enabled startup firms. This paper contributes to BT research and the literature on the emergence of new industrial fields and ventures.