Ways to improve pioneer new ventures' performance in the ICT industry

This paper analyses how marketing capabilities and low cost orientation improve the performance obtained by technology new ventures that enter the market early. In a sample of 104 new ventures of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry, the authors have developed a regression analysis allowing them to demonstrate the direct and indirect effects proposed in the hypotheses. The results obtained show that early entry into the market has a positive influence on new venture performance, as the joint moderator effect of marketing capabilities and low cost orientation is greater than the effect of each variable taken on its own. Furthermore, this study explores if the effects of the analysed factors are different between telecommunications and electronic and computer new ventures. This study shows that marketing capabilities and low cost strategy are complements rather than substitutes in moderating the relationship between entry timing and new venture's performance, especially for the telecommunications new ventures. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.