抄録
Three Japanese academic start-ups were studied to discern their common characteristics from individual features. While established in approximately the same time, the companies are focused on different technologies (information technology, biotechnology, and biotechnology plus materials, respectively) from different institutions (a national research institute, a national university and a private university, respectively). The unified frame for comparison included (i) top management team (inventors, business founders), (ii) technology development (nature of the technology, intellectual properties), (iii) business development (business concept and planning, resources), (iv) network, and (v) legal, political and institutional aspects. Analysis showed that (1) the different technology development models for information technology and biotechnology influences business developments, such as alliance with other organizations or effects of legal, political and institutional factors, (2) the difference also affects the constitution of the top management teams, and (3) effects of financing schemes and original research institutions which have been revealed for academic start-ups in the U.S. do not necessary apply to the Japanese counterparts. The present study revealed effects of the basic technologies on the business activities of academic start-ups, thus showing a possibility of categorizing academic start-ups by technology. It also suggests, by comparison with earlier studies, some idiosyncrasies of the Japanese business climate in terms of supporting academic start-ups. However, the legal, political and institutional aspects discussed in the paper may be somewhat different from the actual situation because of the past limited period from which data were obtained. In addition, some of the issues presented in the paper need further verification by quantitative data.
