California Management Review
California Management Review is a premier professional management journal for practitioners published at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.
by Bernhard Lingens, Maximilian Böger, and Oliver Gassmann
Contrary to existing literature, startups can be successful orchestrators of ecosystems. Based on nine qualitative case studies, this article introduces four archetypes that shed light on how a startup can fulfill the tasks of an orchestrator and overcome challenges. The findings identify dimensions of standardization/customization and sources of value creation as defining the role of ecosystem orchestrators and demonstrate the consequences for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), corporates, investors, and accelerators involved in such ecosystems.
