WP 10: Targeted Israeli Start Up Interviews
Outline of Research

Objectives 

•	Analyzing patterns of development of start-up companies in selected industrial fields both on the firm micro level and as a function of the evolutionary development of the selected field (the meso level). 
The analysis will therefore focus on both the firm (micro) level and on the selected field (meso) level.

The firm level - emphasis will be given to the following issues:
1.	The origin of the entrepreneur and his motivations. The effect of networking/clustering will be scrutinized.
2.	Stages of raising money from the pre-stage to the current stage. The main difficulties as well as means to overcome these difficulties will be questioned.
3.	Special attention will be given to projects that have been financed either by a Technological Incubator or by a Venture Capital fund. In this case the efficiency of these frameworks will be evaluated. 
4.	Intellectual property rights. Means of protecting IPR are expected to be different in the different fields. Special attention will be given to the importance of IPR to the development of the firm, the difficulties in protecting IPR and the level by which IPR impede the development of companies (e.g. IPR policy of universities in relation to the development of bio-tech or pharmaceutical firms).
5.	Strategic partners. The dynamics of searching for strategic partners and the importance of networking and cluster dimensions on these dynamics as well as the role of the strategic partner (e.g. increasing sales, provide reputation, supply technology or R&D capabilities etc.) will be questioned. 
6.	Personnel recruitment. The important issues here are: the availability of personnel, the means and cost of searching,  the level of external training and education  systems vs. the need for in-house" training and  the relative cost of personnel.

The field (meso) level
To analyze, from an evolutionary perspective, phases of development of the field and the co-relationships between these phases and the development of the firm. The following issues and their important to the firms’ development will be scrutinized:
1.	Availability of capital. Stages in the development of venture capital as well as other sources of money (e.g. angels), especially at the pre-seed and seed stages.
2.	Role of Venture Capital Funds/incubators in the particular field 
3.	Added value of investors. 
4.	The development of different types of networking/clustering.
5.	The development of industry-academic relationships in each of the selected sectors.
6.	The development of the labor markets in terms of quality and quantity.
7.	The availability of experienced managers.

Methodology:
The study will be based on in-depth interviews with some 15 firm in each of the selected fields (a total of around 45) and some in-depth interviews with key personnel in each of the fields: consultants, academic researchers and policy makers. In order to get the most comprehensive view on the firm and its growth dynamics, the interviews will be divided into two stages:
1.	Open discussion on the firm where the interviewees describe the development of the firm from its very beginning. 
2.	Filling out a questionnaire. This will enable comparison between the different fields.

Each interview will be prepared in 3 phases:
1.	Collecting background information on the company from both the internet and past published articles.
2.	Conducting the interview and filling out the questionnaire
3.	Rewrite the interview 
4.	Preparing a detailed summery based on 1+2 above. In some case this summery will have the form of a mini case study. 

Selection of firms for interviews
The selection of the firm will be based on the start-up mapping activity, which will be conducted in WP 7 and will be consistent with the selection of potential entrepreneurs of WP6. Other sources such as the internet and the database of the Israeli venture capital association will be used. 

Main Issues in the questionnaire
•	The entrepreneurial stage
•	Stages of raising capital 
•	Venture Capital funds/incubators relationships
•	Recruitment of labor
•	Strategic partnership 
•	Networking/clustering.
•	Exit strategy: merger or acquisition, IPO.