Girişim performansı üzerine: Girişimci ve girişimci takım özellikleri bir girişimi nasıl başarılı kılar?

Acceleration is a relatively new support mechanism that primarily aims to assist the growth of startups to ensure their success in the market. The selection mechanism of accelerators enables them to admit fittest early-stage startups that are most likely to perform well, and succeed in the market. Entrepreneurial characteristics are among the criteria that affect startup selection and startup performance. Based on the interviews of 14 acceleration and incubation programs in Turkey, this thesis initially aims to explore entrepreneur and entrepreneurial team characteristics as apart from each other. Further, the main objective of this thesis is to explain market-related, finance-related, and program-related performance of startups with individual and team level entrepreneurial characteristics based on the empirical analysis of 122 surveys conducted to startups that are admitted to interviewed programs. The main qualitative findings indicate that acceleration programs consider team-level entrepreneurial characteristics as more critical than individual-level entrepreneurial characteristics. However, quantitative findings reveal that individual-level characteristics have a higher influence on startup performance. Team-level characteristics become decisive on the program-related performance of startups. In light of the findings, there are several implications for entrepreneurs, accelerators (and similar mechanisms), and for ecosystem builders (universities, government, and industry) to ensure sustainable development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Turkey.