The exact origin is not very clear. Several authors place the first startups in the 1950s in Silicon Valley. Apparently in 1957 8 engineers left their jobs at Shockley Labs and found funding for their new project. They are considered as the founders of the first startup: “Fairchild Semiconductor”. The idea of startups spread throughout the world, gaining more strength from the 1980s.
The term in English can be translated as “start up”, “start”, “enable”, “turn on”, “activate”. It is used to define recently created companies, which are in an early stage of their activity, called the start-up phase, still developing their product or service and have few resources but have great growth potential because they manage to obtain very good results in the market.
Although start-ups can refer to initiatives in any sector, they are usually closely related to the technological field. It is a business model with very good acceptance in the business world because it is generally related to innovative ideas. Later, if the idea prospers and they achieve profitability, they can go to the next level by being promoted by other investors or being absorbed by already established companies. Large companies such as Apple, Amazon or Facebook, started out as startups.
The main characteristics of startups is that they are companies that, starting from an innovative idea, generally related to technological development, seek to exploit market niches that have great business potential. They have a high creative component and great motivation for the project, a great capacity for change and flexibility, and are completely customer-oriented.
Furthermore, these companies often do not have a fully developed business model and lack adequate capital to move on to the next phase of the business. They are initially funded by their founders, family and friends.
Other peculiar and important aspects are:
⦁ These are young companies with less than 3 years.
⦁ Its main objective is to grow quickly.
⦁ The projects present a high degree of scalability.
⦁ They are made up of multidisciplinary teams, which enrich the project and operate under horizontal business structures.
⦁ They operate in an environment of uncertainty, seeking their sustainability through disruptive formulas to face and solve problems.
⦁ They focus on the development of products and services with an emphasis on customer feedback.
⦁ Increase revenue quickly while keeping costs to a minimum, lower than traditional companies.
⦁ They look for and use alternative sources of financing to traditional banking instruments, such as private investors and “business angels”
⦁ Internally, they build and promote a climate of excellence in results, good communication and a high level of energy among the team.
⦁ The tool par excellence to make yourself known in the market is the internet.
⦁ They hire trained professionals to help them grow as one of the most successful strategies used
⦁ They seek to simplify the commercialization or service provision processes.
⦁ Workers are often highly qualified.
⦁ They take risks naturally, as a path to success. Failure is seen as learning.
⦁ They are always in constant evolution.
The operation and organization of these startups is different from traditional structures. The human organization, made up of various professionals specialized in different sectors, maintains fluid contact with customers, the Customer service department being one of the most important.
Thanks to new technologies and the possibility of having the Internet, we have changed the way we communicate and inform ourselves. The way of starting a business has also been transformed. Anyone without a huge capital can launch the idea of it and satisfy a need through a startup.
The entrepreneurial ecosystem has made it possible to create and develop new business models, new markets, projects and innovations that have forced governments to review regulations and regulations in many cases to facilitate the development of these sectors.
The growing role of this type of emerging business and the maturity of legal frameworks to adapt to this reality encourages more and more entrepreneurs to decide to leave their comfort zone to try their luck with an innovative business model to take advantage of the opportunity. that present new digital technologies linked to an innovative business idea.
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