Authors:
Irawan Nurhas
1
;
2
;
Henri Pirkkalainen
3
;
Stefan Geisler
2
and
Jan Pawlowski
1
;
2
Affiliations:
1
Faculty of Information Technology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
;
2
Institute of Positive Computing, Hochschule Ruhr West University of Applied Sciences, Bottrop, Germany
;
3
Faculty of Management and Business, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
Keyword(s):
Entrepreneurial Concerns, Challenges to Startups, Topic Modeling, Entrepreneurship, Sentiment Analysis.
Abstract:
This study aims to determine the competing concerns of people interested in startup development and entrepreneurship by using topic modeling and sentiment analysis on a social question-and-answer (SQA) website. Understanding the underlying concerns of startup entrepreneurs is critical to society and economic growth. Therefore, greater scientific support for entrepreneurship remains necessary, including data mining from virtual social communities. In this study, an SQA platform was used to identify the sentiment of thirty concerns of people interested in startup entrepreneurship. Based on topic modeling and sentiment analysis of 18819 inquiries in various forums on an SQA, we identified additional questions about founder figures, keys to success, and the location of a startup. In addition, we found that general questions were rated more positively, especially when it came to pitching, finding good sources, disruptive innovation, idea generation, and marketing advice. On average, the i
dentified concerns were considered 48.9 percent positive, 41 percent neutral, and 10.1 percent negative. This research establishes a critical foundation for future research and development of digital startups by outlining a variety of different concerns associated with startup development in the digital age.
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