Startups and Crisis Management

Book excerpt: Drawing on a mixture of theory, cases, and interviews, Startups and Crisis Management provides a valuable overview of how new ventures fared in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It then considers the wider lessons for startups operating in times of crisis and adjusting to the ‘new normal’. The macroeconomic shocks of rising unemployment, lockdowns, and remote working have impacted the entrepreneurial ecosystem and raised questions about how startups can survive, adjust, and thrive once more. This book analyses the reciprocal relationship between startups and their ecosystems, using theoretical lenses such as push and pull factors, necessity entrepreneurship, networking, and embeddedness. Each chapter contains case studies based on interviews with individuals from startups around the world, exploring how real-life firms reacted to the coronavirus crisis. This illuminating text will be a useful resource for modules exploring startups during times of crisis, and courses on entrepreneurship and crisis management more broadly.