Developing an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Model for IT Startups (Case Study: South Khorasan)

Extended Abstract Abstract Entrepreneurship ecosystems are a combination of social, political, economic and cultural elements in a region that support the development and growth of startups, encouraging budding entrepreneurs and other actors to accept the risks of starting and financing a business. It is believed that the entrepreneurial economy, achieved through entrepreneurial ecosystem must replace the entrepreneurial policy, Therefore the regional policies for entrepreneurship are currently transitioning from an increase in the amount of entrepreneurship to an increase in the quality of entrepreneurship. The present study aims to identify the entrepreneurial ecosystem of IT startups in South Khorasan. the research has been done in qualitative method using the theme analysis technique. The data were collected through open and semi- structured interviews conducted with a group of IT workers. Primary and secondary themes were identified through examining data. The result of this study revealed the entrepreneurial ecosystem pattern of the IT startups in South Khorasan. Entrepreneurial culture and risk takin, government, market, new knowledge, the specialist human force, infrastructure, financial services, networking and industry are components of the entrepreneurial ecosystem model of south Khorasan. Introduction The entrepreneurial ecosystem is a dynamic ecosystem similar to the structure of a biological ecosystem. A growing amount of literature suggests that the entrepreneurial ecosystem has many components and is known as a promising area of research in entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship ecosystems are a combination of social, political, economic and cultural elements in a region that support the development and growth of startups. It is believed that the entrepreneurial economy, achieved through entrepreneurial ecosystem must replace the entrepreneurial policy, Therefore the regional policies for entrepreneurship are currently transitioning from an increase in the amount of entrepreneurship to an increase in the quality of entrepreneurship. In the literature related to the entrepreneurship ecosystem, there are few researches in the context of emerging economies. Whereas the ecosystem framework can be a useful tool to identify weak and strong elements in the local business environment and lead the developing economies in the use of relatively strong resources to facilitate entrepreneurial activities. There also are few studies to identify ecosystem patt