Research into entrepreneurial factors of success and failure continuously improves through observing and studying new players in the business world.
This work focuses on top startups in the world and seeks to understand their current habitat, what they excel in, and also the challenges awaiting them.
Based on technology and knowledge, the high-value startups analysed here capture and facilitate global tendencies, leveraging interconnectivity and sharing. They create strengths from the worldwide ecosystems in which they are immersed and which give them easier access to resources but the organisational profiles often represent contexts of weakness and fundamental challenge.
The main contribution of this work is to show the positive effects of plurality. In particular this concerns the number of founders, attitudes to participation, and a sense of belonging and cooperation; and from an external perspective, factors such as the attitude towards collaboration and the ability to make use of fertile ecosystems, or to understand and interpret global trends.
Moreover, an effort to link strategic, organizational and social profiles has been made, creating a model for understanding entrepreneurship which will also be useful for comparing future evidence.

Katia Giusepponi, is an Associate Professor of Business Economics at the University of Macerata. She received her degree in Economics and Business (cum laude) at the University of Ancona and her PhD in Business Economics at the University of Pisa. Her main areas of research concern entrepreneurship, corporate strategy, business analytics and sustainability reporting. She has worked in several multi-competence teams, supporting them within strategic planning and control processes.

Ernesto Tavoletti, is an Associate Professor of Management, International Marketing and International Business Strategy at the University of Macerata. He received a degree in Economics and Commerce (cum laude) at the University of Bologna and a PhD in Economics and Management of Enterprises and Local Systems at the University of Firenze. His research interests focus on international business, innovation management and higher education management.

Virginia Tosi, received her degree in Business Management and Consulting (cum laude) and her PhD in Economics and Management at the University of Macerata. She is a business consultant with particular focus on business planning, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions. Furthermore, she teaches in training courses for entrepreneurs and professionals.