PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to use a combination of resource-based theory and dynamic capabilities theory to explore the phenomenon of startup survival in an emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem.Design/methodology/approachThe study has a phenomenological research design, with an exploratory scope and qualitative approach. It uses in-depth interviews to identify the perceptions of ecosystem agents about the phenomenon of survival.FindingsThis paper argues that startup survival should be studied as a construct that is reflected by four conditions: break-even point, accelerated growth, cash stock and continuous operation. Furthermore, it is formed by the interaction of five mainly interacting resources: human capital, social capital, entrepreneurial capital, organizational capital and the incubation process.Originality/valueThe study offers a holistic model of survival that could be applicable to incipient entrepreneurial ecosystems such as the Peruvian one. This model presents survival as a reflexive-formative construct and not as a dichotomic variable (enterprise operating/enterprise closed) as has been commonly considered in the literature.

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This paper aims to explore and describe the way in which startup firms are grouped into industries. To this end, a quantitative research approach is presented, applying a social network analysis to a sample of Pacific Alliance startups, which were recorded in CrunchBase, considering their operational activities as linkage criteria. In this way, this document offers a new application to social network analysis to demonstrate the need for a different way of classifying startups that goes beyond the industry boundaries established by the traditional classification systems. It also shows that Pacific Alliance startup industries are structured according to a pattern of dominant activity, applied technology and specific use. In addition, there is a concentration on mature or declining startup industries, while growing industries are left in second order.