Resource Acquisition in Global Strategy of High-Tech Startups

－Case Studies of Cambridge Region－

Abstract

We suggest that the global strategy of high-tech startups is categorized into two types. One is a knowledge-based firm; the other is a knowledge-intensive firm. We present two propositions, which are related to debut to global market and resource acquisition, for each type and examine four case-studies in Cambridge, U.K. Knowledge-based startups target global market from the beginning and challenge to penetrate into the market rapidly. They are highly globalized in acquiring core technology, financial and human resource. On the other hand, knowledge-intensive startups start from the limited local market and their activities are also limited in acquiring core technology, financial and human resource. However, once those startups establish business models to offer high customers' convenience, they expand the business over the global market gradually.