Crisis Management Strategies of Startups in the COVID-19 Pandemic

The survival and growth of entrepreneurial startups system are threatened by the unprecedented exogenous shock of the COVID-19 pandemic. While startups play pivotal roles in a country’s national innovation system, “what, why, and how” they act against the crisis has remained an underexplored topic. This study aims at identifying specific government policy initiatives to protect the firms’ survival during the crisis and counterstrategies employed by startups in the crisis management processes. Our quantitative analysis of 91 policy initiatives in 40 countries against the COVID-19 economic crisis indicates that governments focus mainly on providing short-term financial supports such as interest/tax benefits, payment delays, and wage subsidies for small and medium-sized enterprises. In contrast, startup-specific supports buffering from the lack of investment and financial capital were insufficient. Another qualitative analysis of interviews with 16 actors in entrepreneurial ecosystems reveals that Korean startups are leveraging the productive utilization of available resources through business model improvements, organizational restructuring, and external networks against the high illiquidity caused by the crisis. Startups are also required to remain resilient in the entrepreneurial crisis management process by adopting bricolage responses allowing high agility and adaptability for seeking alternative business opportunities in times of crisis.