Leadership in Startups: A Penniless Powerless Approach

Abstract: Startups. Why are the odds of surviving the initial stages so low? While the internet revolution has made it easier to start up, for example by democratizing investments through crowdfunding, the rate of success is still daunting. Why? Ultimately, the world is still being built by humans. That means a group effort is required. To realize this, leadership is an undeniably crucial element. Yet, not a great deal of research has been dedicated to studying leadership in startups, especially how they enlist and retain people (labour), in the early prefunding stage, when money and power are limited. The aim of this thesis is to build a rich holistic picture of how entrepreneurial leaders do this, without the use of financial means or hierarchical power. This is a collective case study of 20 entrepreneurial leaders at the startup incubator MINC in Malmö, Sweden. Methodology is based on in-depth, face to face, one on one, qualitative interviews. The findings reveal that entrepreneurial leaders use a series of psychological tools and techniques, which have been arranged into a practical framework aimed at accelerating the learning of aspiring entrepreneurs.