Entrepreneurial Orientation and Startup Performance: Evidence from Early-Stage Ventures

Abstract

Start-ups are very important to the economic development of any country; however, due to limited resources and strategic challenges, start-ups are associated with a high uncertainty factor and failure rates. This research analyzes how the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) influences the performance of the startups with a specific reference to the key dimensions of the entrepreneurial orientation namely innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactiveness. The research design adopted was quantitative; it used survey data on ventures at the early stage, which underwent analysis using multiple regression methods. The results show that the entrepreneurial orientation is the most significant predictor of the startup performance, with innovativeness being the strongest followed by proactiveness and risk-taking. Such findings underscore the significance of strategic entrepreneurial behaviour in improving the results of the firms in the initial phases of growth. The study is seen as part of the existing literature in terms of supplying empirical evidence of EO-performance relationship in early-stage ventures and providing practical implications to guide entrepreneurs and policymakers to ensure sustainable growth of startups.