The Stars Come Out: Innovation Management in Start-Up Businesses

Canadians start over 140,000 businesses every year. But only a handful of these businesses have the potential for rapid growth based on innovation. This report is based on interviews with leaders from 17 young, rapidly growing innovative Canadian companies. The experience of these companies forms the basis for our insights into innovation management for start-up businesses. We find that innovative start-ups are driven by visionary, ambitious leaders. The main management challenge facing these leaders is to adapt their management system as their company develops. The Stars Come Out demonstrates how innovative start-ups begin their journey and adjust their management systems as they grow. The report extracts key lessons from these companies that can be used by other Canadian start-ups to improve their innovation management.