Key Criteria and Competences Defining the Sustainability of Start-Up Teams and Projects in the Incubation and Acceleration Phase

This study investigates and identifies crucial and efficient competencies of start-up founders and new business leaders, together with the identification of crucial support provided by accelerator programs. These competencies are necessary as individuals and businesses increasingly focus on innovations, industry 4.0, and technologies. This requires an innovative set of entrepreneurs´ competencies to move businesses to the next level. The study gathered data by means of a quantitative questionnaire research and interviews conducted among start-up projects in accelerator programs over the past three years (2017–2019). In total, 158 start-ups were surveyed, and 38 successful teams were interviewed during this period. To analyze results, content analysis was used and Pearson’s chi-square test and the association test were employed using descriptive and two-dimensional statistics tools. The results identified key success criteria and competencies of successful start-up teams. These include knowledge of the ecosystem, resource planning and use, an ability to move from the initial stages, awareness of communication methods, and lobbying. Our findings are that key activities leading to the acceleration of projects are raising awareness among the target group, furthering the development of contacts, facilitating more efficient use of resources, and enabling the identification of barriers to the next phase of development and ways to remove them. The results may inspire other researchers to conduct studies under other conditions to further identify and understand these entrepreneurial competencies.