Brand New

This research investigates motivations for location decisions of international startup entrepreneurs and the corresponding role of local government institutions and city branding activities in such decisions. The research points toward seven decisive motivations for location decisions of international startup entrepreneurs, as shown in table 1: Table 1 - Motivations explaining location decisions 1 Connected startup ecosystem 2 Supportive national government 3 Business considerations 4 Networks 5 Lifestyle 6 Language 7 Support These motivations indicate a limited role for local government institutions. The results reflect an appreciation for the support for startup ecosystem development and for stimulating the use of English as a language in everyday life and in business. However, overall, there is a mismatch between the policy theory of The Hague International Centre as a one-stop-shop expat center and the empirical patterns resulted from the data analysis. The focus on personal soft landing does not match the more businessfocused motivations of the entrepreneurs. To solve the mismatch and to respond to the needs and expectations of the international startup entrepreneurs, The Hague International Centre should focus on city branding: advertise and improve The Hague as a city for startups. To do effectively, The Hague International Centre should actively join the startup ecosystem. Three recommendations are formulated: (1) The Hague International Centre and its account manager should take an active position in the startup ecosystem, connecting with other parties and with startup entrepreneurs to gain and exchange information and knowledge; (2) The Hague International Centre should organize events targeted at startups. Organize, in collaboration with other parties in the startup ecosystem, network events for startups. Additionally, the existing CONNECT events should include more startup topics and be more strongly branded for startup entrepreneurs; (3) The Hague International Centre should be proactive in branding The Hague as a startup city by taking the role as policy advisor to entire municipality and advise to include startups more explicitly. The thesis research is conducted as part of the development of The Hague International Centre, the expat center of The Hague. In 2017, the City Deal “Warm Welcome for Talent” was presented, which focused on making the Netherlands more attractive for international entrepreneurs and to better facilitate the startups settling in the Netherlands, providing them a “warm welcome.” At the same time, The Hague International Centre, the expat center of the municipality of The Hague, is in a phase of iv developing its services and expanding the target audience to include international entrepreneurs as well. The City Deal recommendations served as directions in the development of the center. In particular, The Hague International Centre has followed the advice to become a one-stop-shop, integrating formalities, information, and government services at one place. However, the center needs to improve its understanding of startups and their location decisions to effectively align their services and policies with the needs and expectations of international startup entrepreneurs. The findings and recommendations help The Hague International Centre to align their services and policies to the needs and wishes of international startup entrepreneurs and therefore offer a warm welcome tot his group of internationals, as put forward by the City Deal “Warm Welcome for Talent” (2017). Three different angles in literature are analyzed in order to find theoretical insights into location decisions and attracting factors: place branding literature, Place branding literature, (self-initiated) expatriation literature and entrepreneurial ecosystem literature have proven to be insightful. Place branding is defined as the use of marketing instruments for creating and promoting a positive image for a geographical location as well as developing and improving the place in accordance to expectations and demands of target groups in order to increase the location’s attractiveness and competitiveness. Self-initiated expatriation literature highlightsthe heterogeneity of self-initiated expats and the specific characteristics of the startup expat, i.e. the “expat-preneur.” Lastly, the entrepreneurial ecosystem literature is also important to understand the startup entrepreneur. The ecosystem literature identifies a supportive, but sidelined role for government institutions. Place branding also gives only limited insights for the role of local government institutions, suggesting four strategies to use branding to attract startups: improve quality of life, ensure friendly costs of living, and partnering with business community are emphasized as branding strategies besides creating a strong place brand for the city. Based on the literature review, twelve sensitizing concepts are identified: Table 2 – Sensitizing concepts 1 Place brands 7 Social networks 2 Diversity 8 Participation and change 3 Quality of life 9 Networks and co-working 4 Cost efficiency 10 Access to markets 5 Adventure 11 Human capital/workforce 6 Job and career ambitions 12 Funding and finance This research is a type of small-N, inductive, qualitative research with a comparative analysis of three case studies: The Hague, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The sensitizing concepts above were used as a first theoretical lens to approach the data. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with international startup owners in the three city regions and through expert meetings. The research made use of a type of axial coding, but with an informed open start, in analyzing the data to find motivations v for location decisions. The analysis has led to the seven stimulating motivations as shown, including various sub-motivations. All the sensitizing concepts were also reflected in these (sub-)motivations, except adventure. In addition, each city has its own emphasized stimulating factors. Entrepreneurs in Rotterdam emphasize the startup community, co-working spaces and the “relaxed” and small city vibe in the city. The Hague-based startups highlight a “relaxed” vibe as well as expat-focus in the city and the active role of the municipality in supporting the startup ecosystem. Startups in Amsterdam stress the presence of relevant business and industries and the mentor support as important motivating factors in their location decisions. The seven motivations were compared to the policy theory of The Hague International as a one-stop-shop offering a personal soft landing and guiding with formalities. This mismatch identified between the empirical patterns resulted from the data analysis and the policy theory points toward the limited role of local government institutions in location decisions of international startup entrepreneurs. To increase its role, local government institutions such as The Hague International Centre should focus on branding strategies, as the recommendations mentioned above put forward.