Resources of the firm, Russian high-technology startups,
and firm growth
Garry D. Bruton
a,
*
, Yuri Rubanik
b
a
Department of Management, M.J. Neeley School of Business, Texas Christian University,
Fort Worth, TX 76129, USA
b
Quality Laboratory, Moscow Federal Institute of Electronic Technology, Moscow, Russia
Received 1 November 1998; third revision received 1 February 2001; accepted 1 February 2001
Abstract
Russia possessed many world-class technologies prior to the break up of the Soviet Union.
Entrepreneurial endeavors resulted from this technological ability as market forces encouraged
individuals to leave the large state enterprises that produced those technologies. Founding
characteristics of the firm impact the resources that are available to the startup firm. This study
investigates the extent to which founding factors in Russia help high-technology firms to prosper. It
was found that the team establishing the business mitigated the liability of newness. However, in
contrast to the US, the culture of Russia does not produce negative results if the founding team grows
very large. Additionally, it was shown that firms that pursued more technological products and enter
the market later performed best.
D 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Russia; High-technology entrepreneurship; Liability of newness; Emerging markets; Resource theory
1. Executive summary
Firms can be viewed as composites of various resources. In stable economies, it has been
argued that young firms do not do as well as more mature firms. The underlying reason for
such a liability of newness is the limited resources available to young firms. This emphasis on
0883-9026/02/$ – see front matter D 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 8 8 3 - 9 0 2 6 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 079-9
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-817-257-7421; fax: +1-817-257-7227.
E-mail address: g.bruton@tcu.edu (G.D. Bruton).
Journal of Business Venturing 17 (2002) 553 –576