The Impacts of Externally Hired Senior Technology Executives on Startup Complementor Innovation in Software Platform Ecosystems

For technology startups, hiring a senior technology executive from outside the firm is more than a leadership staffing decision; it can redirect the startup’s innovation trajectory. We study startups in software platform ecosystems, where firms with limited resources must decide whether to expand into new technological domains or deepen innovation within existing ones. We find that externally hired senior technology executives are associated with more innovation that expands into new platform layers, but less innovation within layers the startup already occupies. This shift is especially pronounced when executives bring expertise beyond the startup’s existing technological domains and when they are hired into newly created leadership positions. These patterns are also more pronounced among growth-stage startups and startups without senior technical founders. For founders, boards, and investors, these findings suggest that hiring decisions should consider not only a candidate’s credentials but also where the startup wants its innovation to go. External technology leaders can provide valuable knowledge for pursuing new technological opportunities, but greater expansion into new areas may come at the expense of continued innovation in existing ones.

• 저널Information Systems Research
• 토픽Open Source Software Innovations · Computer Science Applications
• DOI10.1287/isre.2023.0743
• 저자Chen Zhang, He Li, Jingyi Sun, Denghui Zhang