The Startup-Zoo: A Typology of Startups Based on the Ambitions of Their Founders

The development of a startup is determined by the entrepreneurial actions of its founders, and the associated entrepreneurial action theory accordingly describes the different goals, strategies, and measures of the founders for this development. The founders’ ambitions, which are a driving force behind entrepreneurial action, play a significant role in this context. Research shows that these ambitions determine the goals, strategies, and measures of the young company and, thus, the desired development from the founders’ perspective with the associated success. However, not every founder pursues the same ambitions in terms of content and form or always strives for the maximum. Based on three consecutive surveys (n = 1,985 startups), we use K-means cluster analysis to analyze three different dimensions of entrepreneurial ambition (growth, ownership, and cooperation) to examine their combined configuration. Based on this, we identified and double-checked four ambition groups with K-means cluster analysis and laid a foundation for a typology of startups based on the goals of their founders. The results have theoretical and practical implications for the founding and development of startups and a related focus on the founders’ ambitions, but also an associated broader consideration by potential investors.