Innovation and new venture creation

[SPA] Crear lo "nuevo" para resolver problemas es una hazaña incierta. Aun así, el ser humano ha innovado y aplicado el ingenio durante milenios, llegando a crear nuevas herramientas, puentes y empresas, a pesar de la falta de recursos o de claridad en los objetivos. En este sentido, el problema de la asimetría de información (cómo se desplegará el futuro) y de la asimetría de recursos (de qué medios se dispondrá) motivó esta tesis. En particular, el problema de cómo los emprendedores crean nuevos emprendimientos e innovan bajo la incertidumbre y sin objetivos iniciales claros. Esta tesis pretende contribuir a la comprensión de la innovación y la creación de nuevos emprendimientos utilizando una lógica no predictiva (effectuation) y métodos ágiles (utilizados por las aceleradoras de startups) como principios orientadores de esta discusión. Effectuation es una lógica común aplicada por los emprendedores expertos para resolver los problemas típicos de la innovación y creación de nuevas empresas. Se trata de una heurística de control no predictiva que los emprendedores ponen en práctica a través de cinco principios de acción effectual al abordar las incertidumbres y sorpresas en la creación de nuevos productos, servicios o mercados: 1) Principio de "pájaro en mano": construyen un nuevo emprendimiento no necesariamente con un objetivo en mente, sino partiendo de sus propios medios y recursos (quiénes son, qué saben, a quienes conocen), 2) Principio de "pérdida asequible": no hacen grandes apuestas con la expectativa de obtener grandes beneficios, sino que evalúan las oportunidades en función de las desventajas aceptables, 3) Principio de "colcha loca": reducen la incertidumbre formando asociaciones y obteniendo compromisos iniciales en las primeras fases de sus nuevas empresas, 4) Principio de la “limonada”: aprovechan las contingencias en lugar de rechazarlas, permaneciendo flexibles y adaptando sus proyectos según sea necesario, 5) Principio del “piloto en el avión”: se centran en controlar lo que sea controlable en su entorno, entendiendo que el futuro no se encuentra ni se predice, sino que se hace a través de la acción humana. Las aceleradoras y los métodos ágiles activan los principios effectual a través de herramientas y prescripciones que reducen sistemáticamente las inversiones mientras se crea un nuevo emprendimiento. Las aceleradoras promueven ampliamente los métodos ágiles (por ejemplo, el modelo de desarrollo de clientes, los sprints de diseño, el ciclo de innovación rápida) para construir prototipos y primeras versiones de productos y servicios mientras se descubren los clientes y partners iniciales. Además, reduce el riesgo para los inversores en todas las fases de crecimiento de las startups al validar la idea del emprendimiento y aclarar qué recursos serán necesarios. En este sentido, esta tesis examinó si, y en qué medida, los emprendedores construyen nuevas empresas utilizando effectuation y métodos ágiles mediante la creación de tres innovaciones reales con aplicaciones en el mundo real. Los tres casos eran pruebas de concepto implementadas en contextos del mundo real con el objetivo explícito de lanzar Productos Mínimos Viables (Minimum Viable Products, MVP) pero bajo incertidumbre y con ambigüedad de objetivos sobre su funcionalidad. Las tres aplicaciones eran soluciones tecnológicas a problemas de congestión del tráfico, pandemias y confianza en las transacciones digitales. La aplicación 1, "Lemur", es una aplicación edge para el control del tráfico; la aplicación 2, "Dolphin", un sistema de geolocalización basado en sensores e Internet de las Cosas (Internet of Things, IoT) aplicado para el control de pandemias y la aplicación 3, "Crypto Degrees", una solución basada en blockchain para verificar títulos universitarios. En todas las etapas del desarrollo de cada aplicación, los equipos implicados la abordaron de forma emprendedora/eficaz, afrontando las incertidumbres y emprendiendo acciones para comprometerse con múltiples partes interesadas al tiempo que apalancaban las contingencias. Tras implementar las tres soluciones y analizar sus resultados e impacto, los tres casos validaron las predicciones teóricas de que, aplicando principios effectual de forma ágil, se pueden crear nuevos emprendimientos de forma emprendedora e innovadora. [ENG] Creating the "new" to solve problems is an uncertain feat. Still, humans have innovated and applied Ingenium for millennia, eventually creating new tools, bridges, and ventures, despite a lack of resources or clarity of objectives. In this sense, the problem of information asymmetry (how the future will deploy) and resource asymmetry (what means will be available) motivated this thesis. In particular, the problem of how entrepreneurs create new ventures and innovate under uncertainty and without clear initial goals. This thesis aims to contribute to understanding innovation and the creation of new ventures using a non-predictive logic (effectuation) and agile methods (used by startup accelerators) as guiding principles of this discussion. Effectuation is a common logic applied by expert entrepreneurs to solve the typical problems of starting new ventures and innovating. It is a non-predictive control heuristics entrepreneurs operationalize through five principles of effectual action while addressing the uncertainties and contingencies in creating new products, services or markets: 1) Bird-in-hand principle: they build a new venture not necessarily with a goal in mind, but starting with their own means and resources (who they are, what they know, who they know), 2) Affordable loss principle: they do not place large bets with the expectation of high returns, but rather assess opportunities based on acceptable downsides, 3) Crazy quilt principle: they reduce uncertainty by forming partnerships and gaining initial commitments early in their new ventures, 4) Lemonade principle: they leverage contingencies instead of rejecting them, remaining flexible and adapting their projects as required, 5) Pilot in the plane principle: they focus on controlling whatever is controllable in their environment, understanding that the future is not found or predicted, but it is made through human action. Accelerators and agile methods activate the effectual principles through tools and prescriptions that systematically reduce investments while creating a new venture. Accelerators extensively promote "agile" methods (e.g., customer development model, design sprints, rapid innovation cycle) to build prototypes and early versions Effectuation is a common logic applied by expert entrepreneurs to solve the typical problems of starting new ventures and innovating. It is a non-predictive control heuristics entrepreneurs operationalize through five principles of effectual action while addressing the uncertainties and contingencies in creating new products, services or markets: 1) Bird-in-hand principle: they build a new venture not necessarily with a goal in mind, but starting with their own means and resources (who they are, what they know, who they know), 2) Affordable loss principle: they do not place large bets with the expectation of high returns, but rather assess opportunities based on acceptable downsides, 3) Crazy quilt principle: they reduce uncertainty by forming partnerships and gaining initial commitments early in their new ventures, 4) Lemonade principle: they leverage contingencies instead of rejecting them, remaining flexible and adapting their projects as required, 5) Pilot in the plane principle: they focus on controlling whatever is controllable in their environment, understanding that the future is not found or predicted, but it is made through human action. Accelerators and agile methods activate the effectual principles through tools and prescriptions that systematically reduce investments while creating a new venture. Accelerators extensively promote "agile" methods (e.g., customer development model, design sprints, rapid innovation cycle) to build prototypes and early versions of products and services while discovering the initial customers and partners. Additionally, it reduces the risk for investors across all startup growth phases by validating the venture idea and clarifying what resources will be required. In this sense, this thesis examined whether and to what extent entrepreneurs build new ventures using effectuation and agile methods by creating three actual innovations with real-world applications. The three cases were proofs of concept implemented in real-world contexts with the explicit goal of launching Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) but under uncertainty and with ambiguity of objectives about its functionality. The three applications were technological solutions to problems of traffic congestion, pandemics, and trust in digital transactions. Application 1, "Lemur," is an edge application for traffic control; application 2, "Dolphin," an Internet of Things (IoT)-based geolocation system applied for pandemic control and application 3, "Crypto Degrees," a blockchainbased solution to verify university degrees. In all stages of each application development, the teams involved approached it in an entrepreneurial/effectual way, facing uncertainties and engaging in actions to engage with multiple stakeholders while leveraging contingencies. After implementing the three solutions and analyzing their results and impact, the three cases validated the theoretical predictions that by applying effectual principles in an agile form, new ventures can be created in an entrepreneurial, innovative way.Escuela Internacional de Doctorado de la Universidad Politécnica de CartagenaUniversidad Politécnica de CartagenaPrograma Doctorado en Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicacione

Improving the Learning Experience and Outcomes in Entrepreneurial Courses

Abstract: Entrepreneurship has been gaining momentum is Europe over the last years as a way to reduce unemployment levels, and in line with the take-off of the digital economy in the world. Entrepreneurship education is still an open research area, with many courses being launched in almost all universities. We describe our experience in running a summer school and mentoring the teams created in the context of the EU-XCeL project, and ICT focused project funded by European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. From this experience, we extract some conclusions and recommendations for preparing better courses and learning experiences, and we also advocate for courses mixing students from different Degrees studies, mainly Engineering and Business, for improving the experience and the course outcomes, especially for students of Engineering Degrees.This work has been developed in the context of the EUXCeL project, funded by European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No 644801. It has been partially supported by the “Research Programme for Groups of Scientific Excellence at Region of Murcia" of the Seneca Foundation (Agency for Science and Technology of the Region of Murcia – 19895/GERM/15). Diego Alonso thanks the Spanish Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, Subprograma Estatal de Movilidad, Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2013-2016 for grant CAS14/00238

Sparking Innovation in a Crisis: An IoT Sensor Location-Based Early Warning System for Pandemic Control

The COVID-19 pandemic has recently brought attention to several acute human needs. However, it has also demonstrated how crisis can spark innovation in the context of information asymmetry and uncertainty. It has raised the importance of early warning systems (EWS) to prevent similar future events and prepare governments, organizations, and individuals in advance. Such efforts in innovating under uncertainty resemble the process entrepreneurs face when creating new ventures and launching new products and services. Moreover, the increasing adoption of mobile technologies associated with the surging Internet of Things (IoT) devices and applications provides cues to a more extensive discussion about the adoption of sensor networks and applied artificial intelligence algorithms to benefit society and improve its relationship with data. Implementing IoT sensor location-based networks to help reduce community-transmitted infections can be a cost-effective solution that adds to broader pandemic control warning systems. In this paper, a novel predictive location-based early warning system is proposed. The system is able to measure people’s density, people flow, and behavior in specific areas of indoor and outdoor environments. Its implementation has been tested in a real public scenario, showing the capacity to operate flawlessly in real-time, thus addressing the needs of a trusted EWS for governments and organizations to manage event-led situations

Estratégia e empreendedorismo : decisão e criação sob incerteza

Este trabalho estuda o processo decisório de empreendedores ao criar novos negócios sob incerteza e sem objetivos claros, a partir da noção de effectuation. Sendo uma abordagem nova no campo de estudo da estratégia e empreendedorismo, a abordagem effectual propõe que os empreendedores focam, no início de uma nova empresa, em quanto eles suportam perder e experimentam tantas estratégias distintas e combinações de recursos quanto possíveis, dados os recursos que já estão sob seu controle. O propósito, neste modelo, não é necessariamente maximizar os retornos financeiros potenciais, mas, sim, reduzir a incerteza de certas estratégias e combinações de recursos. Em effectuation, o empreendedor, por meio de ações, cria os resultados a partir destas combinações de recursos e da alavancagem sobre contingências à medida que reduzem as incertezas que o cerca. Com base, portanto, na teoria de effectuation, esta dissertação teve a ambição não de caracterizar o que seria um processo empreendedor, mas, sim, dar pistas alternativas de análise, bem como explorar as idéias inerentes à decisão de empreender sob incerteza e ambigüidade de objetivos. Assim, o objetivo desta dissertação foi o de examinar se, e em que extensão, empreendedores constroem empresas no mundo real usando effectuation. A pesquisa de campo foi realizada em uma organização (Buscapé), tendo como metodologia o estudo de caso e a narrativa no tratamento e apresentação dos dados obtidos por meio de oito entrevistas semi-estruturadas com fundadores, executivos, funcionários e parceiros da empresa. Como resultados, a análise do caso Buscapé parece indicar que, em vários momentos de sua história, os empreendedores tomaram decisões sem clareza de objetivos. Em especial, no momento da criação da empresa, os empreendedores buscavam minimizar perdas, aproveitando as surpresas que surgiam e explorando ao máximo os recursos que, então, controlavam. A despeito da inexistência de parâmetros de análise da indústria de internet e da incapacidade de se definirem objetivos precisos sobre um modelo de negócio, os empreendedores, naquele momento, decidiram continuar e, em última instância, criaram uma empresa. Em vista destas observações, a teoria de effectuation ajuda a explicar o processo decisório utilizado pelos empreendedores do Buscapé. Conforme indicam estudos anteriores, é possível afirmar que alguns empreendedores parecem tomar decisões de acordo com uma lógica comum, a lógica do controle effectual

Performance evaluation of Cuckoo filters as an enhancement tool for password cracking

Abstract Cyberthreats continue their expansion, becoming more and more complex and varied. However, credentials and passwords are still a critical point in security. Password cracking can be a powerful tool to fight against cyber criminals if used by cybersecurity professionals and red teams, for instance, to evaluate compliance with security policies or in forensic investigations. For particular systems, one crucial step in the password-cracking process is comparison or matchmaking between password-guess hashes and real hashes. We hypothesize that using newer data structures such as Cuckoo filters could optimize this process. Experimental results show that, with a proper configuration, this data structure is two orders of magnitude more efficient in terms of size/usage compared to other data structures while keeping a comparable performance in terms of time

Improving the Learning Experience and Outcomes in Entrepreneurial Courses

Abstract: Entrepreneurship has been gaining momentum is Europe over the last years as a way to reduce unemployment levels, and in line with the take-off of the digital economy in the world. Entrepreneurship education is still an open research area, with many courses being launched in almost all universities. We describe our experience in running a summer school and mentoring the teams created in the context of the EU-XCeL project, and ICT focused project funded by European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. From this experience, we extract some conclusions and recommendations for preparing better courses and learning experiences, and we also advocate for courses mixing students from different Degrees studies, mainly Engineering and Business, for improving the experience and the course outcomes, especially for students of Engineering Degrees.This work has been developed in the context of the EUXCeL project, funded by European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No 644801. It has been partially supported by the “Research Programme for Groups of Scientific Excellence at Region of Murcia" of the Seneca Foundation (Agency for Science and Technology of the Region of Murcia – 19895/GERM/15). Diego Alonso thanks the Spanish Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, Subprograma Estatal de Movilidad, Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2013-2016 for grant CAS14/00238