Succeed or fail? A case study of new ventures in Hanoi, Vietnam

Abstract

This paper explores factors of success/failure of new ventures in a startup hub city in an emerging country. The study uses the data from 27 personal interviews with local entrepreneurs in Hanoi, Vietnam. The business model, financial capital, human resources (i.e., human capital, social capital, psychological capital, cultural capital), technology, and the entrepreneurial orientation (i.e., innovative, problem-solving, risk-taking, and proactive) emerge as the factors of success/failure of an entrepreneurial venture. Interestingly, technology is important but not as critical to the business model for the success of new ventures; and proactiveness but not autonomy is also a crucial success factor. The role of cultural capital is also an important input to the model. A conceptual model of success/failure factors of entrepreneurial ventures is developed from the findings, and the implications are discussed.

Keywords

• entrepreneurship
• venture
• startup
• success
• failure