Entrepreneur’s background and product innovation: Evidences from technology-based incubated firms

Purpose: Analyzing the association between the entrepreneur’s background and product innovation, this paper aims to propose that some entrepreneur’s features are associated with the product innovation in incubated companies. Design/methodology/approach: The study involved 95 technology-based firms incubated in Brazil. Questionnaires were sent to 461 technology-based incubated firms of the state, of which 112 have responded; however, only 95 met the established criteria, which was analyzed by logistic regression. Findings: It was found that companies whose entrepreneurs have technical academic education closer to the Exact Sciences promote more innovation in products, regardless the size of their companies. In addition, in smaller firms, besides the technical background closer to the Exact Sciences, the entrepreneur's experience in the company also showed positive association regarding the intensity with which such firms innovate in products. Practical implications: Results indicate that entrepreneurs who were selected taking into account their technical background closer to the Exact Sciences are more likely to contribute to the product innovation in their companies. Therefore, investing in their businesses will also increase the likelihood of success in the efficient allocation of the incubator resources. Originality/value: The originality of this paper is reflected by the presentation of relations between entrepreneur’s background and product innovation in technology-based incubated firms in an emerging economy, highlighting the value of some characteristics of entrepreneur’s background to promote product innovation.