Challenges and success factors in pursuing disruptive innovations: A Finnish hightech start-up case study

Abstract

Despite increasing acknowledgment of disruptive innovations for their potential to generate high growth, their high rate of failure necessitates research on what kind of challenges start-ups pursuing disruptive innovations face and how they overcome them. This study contributes to increase understanding in this field by studying the case of a Finnish high-tech start-up’s successful new-market disruption in business-to-business context. Identifying disruptive innovations that have market potential, obtaining adequate funding at initial stages of the business, marketing of the disruptive innovation, and the length and riskiness of the process are main challenges in Finland. Success factors derived from the case study and insights of an expert practitioner of the field provide a roadmap for start-ups to overcome these challenges. Findings from this business-tobusiness study challenge the disruptive innovation theory which has been created in the context of business-to-consumer innovations.