Improving the Innovation Ecosystem as a Key to Successful Development of Russian Fintech Startups

Relevance. The article presents the results of a study of the criteria and factors contributing to the success and failure of Russian fintech start-ups, as well as their important role in the development of the economy and the financial sector. The aim of the study was to identify and assess the impact of stakeholders’ coordinated activities on the success of Russian start-up projects. methods used by the authors involved empirical analytic methods, case studies, focus groups, surveys, in-depth interviews, and qualitative comparative analysis. Research results include an assessment of the state and prospects of financial technology development and the formation of a fintech ecosystem, as well as the problems of financing technological innovations in Russia. The authors have studied barriers to the growth of the Russian venture capital market and ways to overcome them. The article also presents the findings of 32 in-depth interviews with experts and entrepreneurs in the domestic fintech market, as well as a survey of owners and managers of 44 start-ups in the early or seed stage of business development. As a follow up of a thorough research, a list of 30 factors for startup success was compiled and seven configurations identified for potential estimation of either success or failure for the projects. The practical implication of the work lies in its potential use for participants in the startup ecosystem to increase the chances of success in the early stages of fintech projects. 

1. Wessner С.W. Entrepreneurship and the innovation ecosystem policy lessons from the United States. In: Local heroes in the global village. Boston, MA: Springer; 2005:67–89. (International Studies in Entrepreneurship. Vol. 7). DOI: 10.1007/0–387–23475–6_5

2. Adner R., Kapoor R. Value creation in innovation ecosystems: How the structure of technological interdependence affects firm performance in new technology generations. Strategic Management Journal. 2010;31(3):306–333. DOI: 10.1002/smj.821

3. Proskurnin S. E. Creation of a self-organizing innovation ecosystems in zones of special territorial development. Regional’naya ekonomika i upravlenie: elektronnyi nauchnyi zhurnal = Regional Economics and Management: Electronic Scientific Journal. 2017;(4):6. (In Russ.). URL: https://eee-region.ru/article/5206/

4. Burdenko E.V. Creating an ecosystem for startup scalability. Voprosy innovatsionnoi ekonomiki = Russian Journal of Innovation Economics. 2023;13(4):2175–2186. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.18334/vinec.13.4.120106

5. Barrehag L., Fornell A., Larsson G., et al. Accelerating success: A study of seed accelerators and their defining characteristics. Bachelor thesis. Gothenburg: Chalmers University of Technology; 2012. 77 p. URL: http://publications.lib.chalmers.se/records/fulltext/161790.pdf

6. Blank S., Dorf B. The startup owner’s manual: The step-by-step guide for building a great company. Pescadero, CA: K&S Ranch Inc.; 2012. 1090 p. URL: https://smeportal.unescwa.org/sites/default/files/2019–12/The_Startup_Owner%20s_Manual-A%20step%20by%20step%20guide%20for%20building%20a%20great%20company.pdf

7. Popov A.N. Startup studio as promising model for developing innovations in the context of venture capital and corporate innovations in Russia. Gosudarstvennoe upravlenie. Elektronnyi vestnik = Public Administration. E-Journal. 2020;(80):256–281. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.24411/2070-1381-2020-10073

8. Atkinson R. Project management: Cost, time and quality, two best guesses and a phenomenon, it’s time to accept other success criteria. International Journal of Project Management. 1999;17(6):337–342. DOI: 10.1016/S0263-7863(98)00069-6

9. Turner J.R., Müller R. The project manager’s leadership style as a success factor on projects: A literature review. Project Management Journal. 2005;36(2):49–61. DOI: 10.1177/875697280503600206

10. Pinto J. K., Slevin D.P. Critical factors in successful project implementation. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. 1987; EM-34(1):22–27. DOI: 10.1109/TEM.1987.6498856

11. Freeman M., Beale P. Measuring project success. Project Management Journal. 1992;23(1):8–17. URL: https://www.wcu.edu/pmi/1996/J92MAR 08.PDF

12. Turner R., Zolin R. Forecasting success on large projects: Developing reliable scales to predict multiple perspectives by multiple stakeholders over multiple time frames. Project Management Journal. 2012;43(5):87– 99. DOI: 10.1002/pmj.21289

13. Turner J.R. The handbook of project-based management: Leading strategic change in organizations. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Professional; 2009. 452 p.

14. Kabakova O., Plaksenkov E., Korovkin V. Strategizing for financial technology platforms: Findings from four Russian case studies. Psychology & Marketing. 2016;33(12):1106–1111. DOI: 10.1002/mar.20945

15. Korovkin V., Plaksenkov E., Kabakova O. Digital platforms and the ecosystems of financial inclusion: The Russian experience. Skolkovo: The Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO; 2015. 42 p. URL: https://embahs.skolkovo.ru/downloads/documents/FinChair/Research_Reports/SKOLKOVO_Digital_platforms_report_2015_v2_en.pdf

16. Ragin C. C. Set relations in social research: Evaluating their consistency and coverage. Political Analysis. 2006;14(03):291–310. DOI: 10.1093/pan/mpj019