%0 Journal Article %J Technology Innovation Management Review %D 2016 %T Entrepreneurial Growth Ambitions: The Case of Finnish Technology Startups %A Arto Wallin %A Kaisa Still %A Katja Henttonen %K entrepreneurial innovation %K growth ambitions %K startups %X Technology startups are expected to be a major driving force of economic growth in Europe. The search for new high-growth startups has been particularly topical in Finland, the country that is known for its high-tech products – and the fall of Nokia’s mobile phone business. Although a record number of startups has been established in recent years, the previously identified challenge is that only a small percentage of entrepreneurial businesses are responsible for the lion’s share of economic benefits typically associated with entrepreneurial activity. Hence, we need better understanding of what level of growth technology entrepreneurs aim to create and why there may be differences in growth ambitions among them. In this study, we undertook interpretivist case study research in pursuit of rich, empirically grounded understanding of entrepreneurial growth ambitions in the context of Finnish technology startups. We interviewed entrepreneurs at a Finnish startup event and supplemented this information with data available publicly on the Internet related to the growth ambitions of startups. Our study sought to increase understanding of the different aspects of entrepreneurial growth ambitions, and to explore the relationship between context and growth. Based on the findings, we suggest that growth ambitions should be seen as a complex, socially constructed concept. The growth ambitions of entrepreneurs in our study were influenced, at least in part, by their startups' institutional and market contexts, the scalability of their business models, their personal characteristics and experience, and their perceptions of the barriers and constraints of the field. We conclude that startups have very different growth pathways: although the growth of one startup may depend on the talent of a few software developers, the growth of another startup may be based on its success in building international sales networks. As a result, to get most out of the support provided for a startup ecosystem, support activities should be tailored to different types of high-growth startups. %B Technology Innovation Management Review %I Talent First Network %C Ottawa %V 6 %P 5-16 %8 10/2016 %G eng %U http://timreview.ca/article/1023 %N 10 %1 VTT (Technical Research Centre of Finland) Arto Wallin is a Senior Scientist and Project Manager at VTT (Technical Research Centre of Finland) in the Business, Innovation and Foresight research area. For last four years, his work has focused on business consulting, and he has helped numerous e-health startups and SMEs in the commercialization of their innovations. His recent scientific interest has been on the startup innovation process, service innovation and management, and institutional change, particularly in the field of healthcare. %2 VTT (Technical Research Centre of Finland) Kaisa Still is a Senior Scientist at VTT (Technical Research Centre of Finland) and Visiting Scholar at mediaX at Stanford University. Supporting collaboration and innovation with technology continues to be at the core of her career. Her current work concentrates on platforms and innovation ecosystems, accelerating innovation activities, and digital opportunities. Combined with the policy perspective, her work extends to private and public organizations, in regional and global contexts. %3 VTT (Technical Research Centre of Finland) Katja Henttonen is a specialist at the VTT (Technical Research Centre of Finland) in a team studying digital transformations in organizations and society. She holds an MSc degree in ICT and socio-economic development from the University of Manchester and is working towards a PhD at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Since joining VTT in 2006, she has worked in several research projects on technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Prior to that, she worked for almost ten years in the software business, both in professional and consulting roles. %R http://doi.org/10.22215/timreview/1023