Project Management within start-ups : Literary review and case studies in Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract: This paper describes the way start-ups use Project Management, what their needs in this field are, and what tools they use to support it. In the first part of this paper, a comprehensive literature review is performed, divided into three main parts. First, Project Management in general is studied; second its benefits to SMEs are pinpointed; and finally its application to startups are reviewed. The second part of this paper is based on three case studies of start-ups in the Stockholm-region. Five representatives of these start-ups were interviewed, and the results of these face-to-face conversations are first exposed and then discussed by the author. In the end, this paper shows the traditional phase-based approach to Project Management does not suit start-ups. Instead, a more agile and iterative method is put forward, such as SCRUM. It is argued that such strategy should be kept by start-ups when growing and tapping other markets outside Sweden, although it is recognized that Project Management should become more formal than the general “on the go” approach witnessed in the three start-ups.