What influences the speed of prototyping? An empirical investigation of twenty software startups

It is essential for startups to quickly experiment business ideas by building tangible prototypes and collecting user feedback on them. As prototyping is an inevitable part of learning for early stage software startups, how fast startups can learn depends on how fast they can prototype. Despite of the importance, there is a lack of research about prototyping in software startups. In this study, we aimed at understanding what are factors influencing different types of prototyping activities. We conducted a multiple case study on twenty European software startups. The results are two folds, firstly we propose a prototype-centric learning model in early stage software startups. Secondly, we identify factors occur as barriers but also facilitators for prototyping in early stage software startups. The factors are grouped into (1) artifacts, (2) team competence, (3) collaboration, (4) customer and (5) process dimensions. To speed up a startups progress at the early stage, it is important to incorporate the learning objective into a well-defined collaborative approach of prototypingComment: This is the author's version of the work. Copyright owner's version can be accessed at doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57633-6_2, XP2017, Cologne, German

Coopetition of software firms in Open source software ecosystems

Software firms participate in an ecosystem as a part of their innovation strategy to extend value creation beyond the firms boundary. Participation in an open and independent environment also implies the competition among firms with similar business models and targeted markets. Hence, firms need to consider potential opportunities and challenges upfront. This study explores how software firms interact with others in OSS ecosystems from a coopetition perspective. We performed a quantitative and qualitative analysis of three OSS projects. Finding shows that software firms emphasize the co-creation of common value and partly react to the potential competitiveness on OSS ecosystems. Six themes about coopetition were identified, including spanning gatekeepers, securing communication, open-core sourcing and filtering shared code. Our work contributes to software engineering research with a rich description of coopetition in OSS ecosystems. Moreover, we also come up with several implications for software firms in pursing a harmony participation in OSS ecosystems.Comment: This is the author's version of the work. Copyright owner's version can be accessed at https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-69191-6_10, Coopetition of software firms in Open source software ecosystems, 8th ICSOB 2017, Essen, Germany (2017

M&A @ facebook: strategy, themes and drivers

Most deals are motivated by the recognition of a strategic threat or opportunity in the firm’s competitive arena. These deals seek to improve the firm’s competitive position or even obtain resources and new capabilities that are vital to future prosperity, and improve the firm’s agility. The purpose of this work project is to make an analysis on Facebook’s acquisitions’ strategy going through the key acquisitions in the company’s history. More than understanding the economics of its most relevant acquisitions, the main research is aimed at understanding the strategic view and key drivers behind them, and trying to set a pattern through hypotheses testing, always bearing in mind the following question: Why does Facebook acquire emerging companies instead of replicating their key success factors

Opiskelijoiden valmistaminen työelämään yliopiston sisäisen ohjelmisto-startupin avulla

Tertiary education aims to prepare computer science students for the working life. While much of the technical principles are covered in lower-level courses, team-based capstone projects are a common way to provide students hands-on experience and teach soft skills. Although such courses help students to gain some of the relevant skills, it is difficult to simulate in a course context what work in a professional software engineering team really is about. Our goal is to understand ways tertiary education institutions prepare students for the working life in software engineering. Firstly, we do this by focusing on the mechanisms that software engineering capstones use to simulate work-life. A literature review of 85 primary studies was conducted for this overview. Secondly, we present a more novel way of teaching industry-relevant skills in an university-lead internal software startup. A case study of such a startup, Software Development Academy (SDA), is presented, along with the experiences of both students and faculty involved in it. Finally, we look into how these approaches might differ. Results indicate that capstone courses differ greatly in ways they are organized. Most often students are divided in teams of 4–6 and get assigned with software projects that the teams then develop from an idea to a robust proof-of-concept. In contrast, students employed in the SDA develop production-level software in exchange for a salary for university clients. Students regarded SDA as a highly relevant and fairly irreplaceable educational experience. Working with production-quality software and having a wide range of responsibilities was perceived integral in giving a thorough skill set for the future. In conclusion, capstones and the internal startup both aim to prepare students for the work-life in software engineering. Capstones do it by simulating professional software engineering in a one-semester experience in a course environment. The internal startup adds a touch of realism to this by being actual work in a relatively safe university context

The Importance of Business Plan Proficiency to Business School Graduates

Small businesses are one of the largest groups of employers in the United States. Success of these businesses is, therefore, very important to the economy at large. Entrepreneurs who write business plans, in general, receive more funding from third parties such as banks and venture capital firms and are more likely to be successful. Entrepreneurs who receive a business education and have the support of a mentor are also more likely to be successful in the long term. Incorporating business planning, and activities such as business plan competitions and building incubators on campus, enhance classroom learning

Planificación, gestión y desarrollo de una aplicación de área de cliente.

[ES] Un área de Cliente es una aplicación web desarrollada para los clientes de una empresa, con la finalidad de darles acceso a cierta información relevante y personal sobre un servicio contratado con una empresa. Una aplicación web es un software que se ejecuta en un servidor web. El usuario accede a estas aplicaciones con una conexión activa a Internet, utilizando un navegador web. Normalmente, estas aplicaciones se basan en una estructura cliente-servidor, donde el cliente o usuario recibe servicios de un servidor externo alojado por un tercero. Una aplicación web se puede utilizar con muchos propósitos, como un correo web, banca en línea o áreas de clientes. En este Trabajo de Final de Master, presentamos información sobre la planificación, gestión y desarrollo de una aplicación de área de cliente, centrándose especialmente en el software back-end necesario para el proyecto. Los puntos principales del documento serán la planificación y gestión del área de clientes, el desarrollo del software del lado del servidor y su gestión y mantenimiento como administradores.[EN] A Client area is a web application developed for the clients of a company, with the purpose of giving them access to some relevant and personal information regarding a hired service with a company. A web application is an application software that runs on a web server. These applications are accessed by the user with an active Internet connection, using a web browser. Normally, these applications are based in a client-server structure, where the client or user is provided services by an off-site server hosted by a third party. A web application can be used with many purposes, like a web-mail, online banking or client areas. In this Final Master Thesis, we present information regarding the planning, management and development of a client area application, focusing specially on the back-end software needed for the project. The main points of the document will be the planning and management of the client area, the development of the server-side software and its management and maintenance as administrators.Sales Bellés, D. (2021). Planificación, gestión y desarrollo de una aplicación de área de cliente. Universitat Politècnica de València. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/165156TFG