PDF《e-Informatica Software Engineering》

this ?gure neared the $2.36 billion raised during the whole of

2014 [6]. From an innovation perspective, startups often pave the way for the introduction of even more new and disruptive innovations [7]. Kickstarter is changing the retail and ?nance industries, Spotify is o?ering a new way to listen to and purchase music, and Airbnb is reinventing the hospitality industry [8]. From an engineering perspective, startups must inventively apply existing knowl- edge in order to open up unexpected avenues for improvement [9];

e.g., they must provide educa- tion for full stack engineers, develop techniques for continuous lightweight requirements engineer- ing, or develop strategies to control technical debt. Despite these promising conditions, software startups face challenges to survival, even in con- texts where they play a key role in developing new technology and markets, such as cloud com- puting [10]. These challenges may arise because, while developing a product can be easy, selling it can be quite di?cult [11]. Software startups face other challenges, such as developing cutting-edge products, acquiring paying customers, and build- ing entrepreneurial teams [12]. Such diverse fac- tors underscore the need to conduct research on software startups, which will bene?t both scholarly communities and startup leaders. This paper'

s research agenda is driven by past and current work on software startups. We outline the various research tracks to provide a snapshot of ongoing work and to preview fu- ture research, creating a platform for identifying collaborations with both research and startup environments and ecosystems. This e?ort is not a one-way path. We have therefore founded a re- search network, the Software Startup Research Network (SSRN)3, which enables interactions and collaborations among researchers and inter- ested startups. SSRN envisions to: (1) spread novel research ?ndings in the context of soft- ware startups;

and (2) inform entrepreneurs with necessary knowledge, tools and methods that minimize threats and maximize opportunities for success. As part of the network initiatives, an International Workshop of Software Startups was established in 2015. The ?rst edition of the workshop was held in Bolzano4 (Italy) in 2015, and the second took place in Trondheim5 (Nor- way) in 2016. This paper provides a research agenda based on the activities carried out by the researchers in the network. The rest of the paper is organized as follows. After we clarify the meaning of software startup and what we know about software startups from

1 ISO 42010:2011 [1] de?nes software-intensive systems as any system where software contributes essential in?uences to the design, construction, deployment, and evolution of the system as a whole to encompass individual applications, systems in the traditional sense, subsystems, systems of systems, product lines, product families, whole enterprises, and other aggregations of interest .

2 In our article, digital startups refer speci?cally to startups in which the business value of the solution is created by means of software [4].

3 https://softwarestartups.org

4 http://ssu2015.inf.unibz.it/

5 https://iwssublog.wordpress.com/ Software Startups C A Research Agenda

91 prior research in the Background section, Sec- tion

3 introduces the research topics on software startups, organized under six main tracks that we have either investigated or envision investi- gating in the future. Wherever possible, each topic is illustrated and motivated by previous studies. Section

4 highlights the implications of these main tracks for future research. The paper concludes with Section 5, which points out fu- ture actions that can establish and consolidate software startups as a research area. 2. Background 2.1. What is a Software Startup? To understand software startups, we must ?rst clarify what a startup is. According to Ries [13], a startup is a human institution designed to create a new product/service under conditions of extreme uncertainty. Similarly, Blank [14] de- scribes a startup as a temporary organization that creates high-tech innovative products and has no prior operating history. These de?ni- tions distinguish startups from established or- ganizations that have more resources and al- ready command a mature market. In addition, Blank [14,15] de?nes a startup as a temporary or- ganization that seeks a scalable, repeatable, and pro?table business model, and therefore aims to grow. Blank'