Acceleration as process: A strategy process perspective on startup acceleration

In this chapter, Matthias Wenzel and Jochem Koch develop conceptual arguments on what and how accelerators accelerate. Based on the literature on strategy process, they draw two conceptual distinctions that relate to the object of acceleration (strategic core versus strategic periphery) and the processual patterns of acceleration (forwarding versus leaping). They then use these distinctions to conceptualize and discuss four ways in which accelerators can accelerate the business development of new ventures. They argue that start-up acceleration seems to be largely aimed at forwarding and leaping the strategic periphery instead of the strategic core. This chapter extends the emerging literature on accelerators by making the case for considering and examining start-up acceleration as a process and offering a more specific and nuanced understanding of how it occurs.