Startups' innovation behavior: An investigation into the role of entrepreneurial motivations

Although it is argued that competitiveness and successful performance in the long-term is facilitated if ventures engage in innovations in diverse domains (e.g. product, process, production, administration, etc.), the development of diversified innovation has been rarely analyzed. As the entrepreneurs’ initial motivations to startup are likely to influence their subsequent entrepreneurial behavior, this study aims to explore whether and how entrepreneurial motivations affect diversified innovation behavior in startups. Using data on over 48.000 French startups, we present novel insights into the consequences of entrepreneurial motivation for innovation behavior. In fact, we find that distinct startup motivations can have different effects on the development of diverse innovations. As such, our findings contribute to extant research on innovation development of startups and advance the present understanding of the determinants of startups’ innovative behavior