Signalling of early-stage startups on crowdinvestment platforms

Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)

• Introduction
  • Problem outline and relevance
  • Target and approach
• Definitions and theoretical framework
  • Considerations about early-stage startups
    • Characteristics
    • Startup funding cycle and the role of crowdinvesting
    • Reasons for startup failure
    • Why startup success is hard to predict
  • Relevance of Business Models in the entrepreneurial context
    • Definitions and origin of business modelling
    • Business model ontologies
    • Business model typologies
    • Business models and startup innovation
  • Crowdinvesting
    • Concepts and classifications
    • Crowdinvesting process
    • Crowdinvestor profile
  • Information economics in crowdinvesting
    • Principal agent theory
    • Signalling and decision heuristics in crowdinvesting
• Empirical Study
  • Methodology
  • Definition of hypotheses
  • Research model and definition of variables
  • Sample and data collection
  • Qualitative considerations
• Results of empirical study
  • Quantitative Market Research
    • Results from descriptive statistics
    • Results from statistical analysis
  • Discussion
  • Limitations

Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)

This research study investigates the role of business models in the decision-making process of crowdinvesting for early-stage startups in Germany. The research aims to understand the relevance of signalling criteria for investors, evaluate the impact of business model presentation on project funding success, and contribute to the knowledge base for entrepreneurs, crowdinvestors, and platforms. This study focuses on the unique characteristics of early-stage startups and the specific needs and behaviours of crowdinvestors compared to traditional investors.

• The importance of business models in crowdinvesting decisions
• The impact of signalling criteria on project funding success
• The role of information economics in crowdinvesting
• The characteristics of crowdinvestors and their decision-making processes
• The evaluation of business models within crowdinvesting campaigns

Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)

The first chapter sets the stage by outlining the problem of limited information availability in crowdinvesting and highlighting the need for understanding investor preferences and decision-making processes. It introduces the target and approach of the research, focusing on the analysis of business models and their impact on funding success.

Chapter two delves into the theoretical framework, examining the characteristics of early-stage startups, their funding cycles, and the role of crowdinvesting. It presents different frameworks for business modelling and explores the implications of information economics and behavioural science on crowdinvesting decisions.

The third chapter outlines the methodology of the empirical study, including the definition of hypotheses, research model, data collection methods, and qualitative considerations. It provides a comprehensive overview of the research design and data analysis techniques used to examine the impact of business models and signalling criteria on project funding success.

The fourth chapter presents the results of the empirical study, focusing on quantitative market research, descriptive statistics, and statistical analysis. It analyzes the data collected from the German crowdinvesting market to identify trends and patterns related to the impact of business models on project funding success.

Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)

This research study focuses on the following keywords and concepts: crowdinvesting, equity-based crowdfunding, business models, startups, signalling, information asymmetry, decision heuristics, and project funding success. These terms reflect the core themes and research areas explored in the thesis.