Software Startup Practices -- Software Development in Startups through the Lens of the Essence Theory of Software Engineering

TL;DR

This paper investigates how software startups differ from mature organizations in development practices using the Essence Theory, proposing modifications to better suit startup contexts.

Contribution

It applies the Essence Theory to analyze startup practices and suggests adaptations to improve its relevance for startup software engineering.

Findings

Identifies key differences in practices between startups and mature organizations.

Proposes modifications to the Essence Theory for better applicability in startups.

Validates the suitability of the Essence Theory in the startup context.

Abstract

Software startups continue to be important drivers of economy globally. As the initial investment required to found a new software company becomes smaller and smaller resulting from technological advances such as cloud technology, increasing numbers of new software startups are born. Typically, the main argument for studying software startups is that they differ from mature software organizations in various ways, thus making the findings of many existing studies not directly applicable to them. How, exactly, software startups really differ from other types of software organizations as an on-going debate. In this paper, we seek to better understand how software startups differ from mature software organizations in terms of development practices. Past studies have primarily studied method use, and in comparison, we take on a more atomic approach by focusing on practices. Utilizing the Essence Theory of Software Engineering as a framework, we split these practices into categories for analysis while simultaneously evaluating the suitability of the theory for the context of software startups. Based on the results, we propose changes to the Essence Theory of Software Engineering for it to better fit the startup context.