From Early to Late-stage Technologies: Out-Licensing and Performance Outcomes in Technology Startups

Marco Ceccagnoli
Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
 

Abstract:

This paper examines how the stage of technological development and the generality of a startup’s technology base shape out-licensing and, in turn, entrepreneurial exit. We consider technology commercialization as a system of interconnected decisions, showing that increases in early-stage projects in the innovation pipeline raise subsequent licensing deals, especially when supported by general-purpose technologies. We also provide systematic evidence that out-licensing directly increases the likelihood of entrepreneurial exit and mediates the effects of both early-stage development and technological generality. By modeling licensing as both an outcome of technology development and a pathway to exit, our study bridges research on markets for technology and entrepreneurship, highlighting licensing as a dynamic, pipeline-based process where timing, experimentation, and signaling jointly shape startups’ path to liquidity events.

Marco Ceccagnoli is a Professor of Strategy and Innovation and Ph.D. coordinator at the Scheller College of Business, Georgia Tech, where he also holds the Brady Family Professorship in Management. His research and teaching examine the economics and management of innovation, entrepreneurship, corporate innovation, and markets for technology, emphasizing their impact on business and corporate strategy. His scholarship has received international recognition, including the William W. Cooper Doctoral Dissertation Award in Management Science, the Academy of Management’s TIM Division Dissertation Award (runner-up), and the Best Paper Award from the Cooperative Strategy Interest Group of the Strategic Management Society. His work appears in leading journals such as Management Science, Strategic Management Journal, MIS Quarterly, and Research Policy. Ceccagnoli earned his Ph.D. in Management and Policy from Carnegie Mellon University and a magna cum laude Laurea degree in Economics from the University of Rome “La Sapienza.”

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