Collaborating With Larger Partners: Benefits and Risks for Entrepreneurial Firms

Although interfirm collaborations between entrepreneurial firms and established partners have become ubiquitous in organizational and business life, academic research on collab­ orations between start-ups and large industry leaders has only received limited attention. Such collaborations are also known as “asymmetric” or “unbalanced” relationships. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a systematic literature review of the current state of research on collaborations between entrepreneurial and large firms. In particular, the chapter identifies several benefits and risks involved for entrepreneurial firms and uses the findings of the literature review as a springboard to provide a roadmap for future re­ search on this timely topic.