What’s Your Business Plan: The Technology Statement and Commodification in the Technology Incubators in Beijing

• In Event: Turning (More) Things into Assets: Techno-economic TRANSformations

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore how the technology is stated in the financial context. The technology incubator is a space that concentrates the knowledge, capitals and entrepreneurs for innovative business. The new landscape of policies has made “technological innovation and entrepreneurship (in Chinese: Shuang-Chuang)” be the central concepts of the changing Chinese society. Thus, the roles and relationships of the investors, entrepreneurs, workers and the authorities in the space have changed during the adoption of new policies. However, there is a lack of studies of the representation of innovation from the investors and entrepreneurs’ perspectives within incubators that shaped the development of technological commodification. The cooperation, negotiation or conflict between the stakeholders inside have also been discussed rarely. Therefore, this study focuses on the activities of technology statement on the business plan, a common document for communication of equity investment between the investors and entrepreneurs, and how the technological path and technical products are influenced by financial and accounting factors. The research carried out the text analysis of the processing business plans from the companies in the incubators in Beijing, China. The participant observation, field survey and interviews with the members of the investors and entrepreneurs were also conducted, attempting to reveal the financial logics behind the incubators, and revisit the theories of social construction of technology.

Author

• ShihMing Wu