KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES FOR START-UPS: A FRAMEWORK PROPOSAL

Purpose: The study reviews the knowledge management challenges faced by innovative start-ups founders and entrepreneurs. Knowledge management is critical for innovation, since both organizations and individuals face very specific needs: collection of a wide variety of information and data, such as market data and technical information, and a wide range of transformation of these data into applicable knowledge, in the forms of required product specifications, business model, and business strategy. In addition, the business financing and investment ecosystem (especially Banks & Venture Capitals) uses a traditional “business plan” approach for evaluating innovation companies. Furthermore, a wide range of tools (databases, online information, Collaboration Systems, Business Intelligence Systems, ERP & CRM Systems) enable information flow and supports decision making process. Design/methodology/approach: To this respect, both academic literature and business experience highlight the need to improve Knowledge Management process both for individuals and organizations engaged in Innovation management. Findings: The proposed framework provides academics, entrepreneurs and venture capital companies a new approach for identifying critical success factors knowledge management and further improves decision making in a changing and challenging business environment. Finally the study highlights key areas for further research. Research limitations/implications: This paper is a framework, so the result is in conceptual stage only. Practical implications: This framework is able to adopted by researchers. Originality/value: This paper if original. Paper type: Conceptual paper Keyword: Start Ups, Knowledge Management, Market Analysis, Product Mapping Received: April 28 th , 2020 Revised: September 4 th , 2020 Published: September 30 th , 2020


I. INTRODUCTION
The study reviews the key types of knowledge that are important to entrepreneurs and start-up companies. De Massis, Audretsch, Uhlaner, & Kammerlander (2018) defines entrepreneurship as -the ability to identify, pursue and capture the value from business opportunities‗', while Blank (2013) defines startups as organisations formed to search for repeatable and scalable business models. -Knowledge management refers to identifying and leveraging the collective knowledge in an organisation to help the organisation compete.‖ (Alavi & Leidner, 2001). Trott (2017) also highlights the role of knowledge: -Technology is knowledge applied to products or production processes‖.
-A product has two key dimensions. Technologythe fund of knowledge, technical and otherwiseenabling the product to be economically produced and marketsto whom and how the product is to be soldenabling profitable distribution. These two characteristics are inseparable. An invention is not a new product until it is produced and distributed in a form that people can and will buy.‖ (J. F. Christensen, 2002).
Linking product characteristics with market needs is always a critical challenge; marketers strive to identify which market segments appreciate more (or gain more value from) the special characteristics of their products. To this respect, Goyat (2011) discusses a variety of criteria for market segmentation while further academic studies introduce the concept of conjoined analysis, as a methodology for providing a better fit between product characteristics and market segments: -Conjoined analysis is a market segmentation methodology that -measures the various trade-offs that customers are willing to make when they buy a product (Grant, 1999).
Kam Sing Wong & Tong (2012) highlight the importance of Product, Process and Management Technologies for the development of new products or creation of new businesses. Furthermore Hart & Milstein (1999) provided a framework regarding Continuous Improvement and Creative Destruction of industries. According to their approach, industries can be either ‗rationalized' by continuous improvements or being -creatively disrupted‖ by breakthrough innovation and technology. In both cases, there are significant knowledge requirements.

A. Start Ups: Learning Organisations on the path to Knowledge
Past academic studies highlight a variety of knowledge challenges for start-ups. However in many cases the understanding of knowledge challenges is fragmented or focused on selective areas. -A venture starts with relatively imprecise and limited hypotheses about where an opportunity may lie. Multiple stages of information gathering and -pivoting‖ follow, as the business model is revised to arrive at the final, validated version. Typically, the founders radically change their hypotheses as the venture unfolds.‖ (Girotra & Netessine, 2014).
-The ‗intangibles' that add value to most products and services are knowledge-based: technical knowhow, product design, marketing presentation, understanding the customer, personal creativity and innovation. Critical success factors for organisations today -the need for speed, management of complexity, a sense of history and context, effective judgment, and organisational flexibility-are all related to and dependent on organisational knowledge‖ (Herschel & Nemati, 2000). Further studies conclude that -a learning effect dominates when firms are young and a vintage effect dominates when firms become mature… profitability is by far the chief reason for firm exit, since firms with negative profit are twice as likely to exit the industry…. firm performance, in terms of either profitability or productivity, becomes gradually more critical for firm survival over time (Bellone, Musso, Nesta, & Quere, 2008).
Further studies conclude that: Ihrig & MacMillan (2015) conclude‖One thing we can assure you: Your competitors will have access to the same kinds of data and general industry knowledge that you do. So your future success depends on developing a new kind of expertise: the ability to leverage your proprietary knowledge strategically and to make useful connections between seemingly unrelated knowledge assets or tap fallow, undeveloped knowledge.‖ Furthermore Ihring et al proposed a methodology for knowledge mapping, and for developing a strategy for knowledge management. In addition Denicolò & Zanchettin (2010) link competition and innovation with strategic pricing. Rochford & Wotruba (1996) explore the links between sales and new product success, highlighting the need to adjust the sales force when new products are launched; while Jones, Chonko, Rangarajan, & Roberts (2007) highlight the recent changes to sales management.
Weaver (1995) summarizing Demming's views for innovation, provides two questions for a firm wishing to innovate: (a) which is our business scope? and (b) which will be the new products and/or services which will serve our customers needs better than the ones they have available and use today? In addition Weaver highlights Demming's Principals of Innovation, concluding the following:  In order to identify products or services that can help your customers improve their lives, study their processes. Collect and process information regarding customer's processes. Use this information to identify customer's problems, and offer solutions to them. Expand the definition of your business scope to include supplementary products and services to your existing product line. 2 Study the environment that determines your customers processes Understand the way that environmental (technological, economical, social, political) changes will affect your customers processes, so that you can predict changes of these processes. Exploit the opportunity of these changes and your understanding of your customer's processes in order to develop new products and services that will serve your customers new processes. 3 Study the processes of your customer's customer Your customers have to serve the needs of their own customers, in the industrial markets, or their own personal preferences in consumer products. By understanding the present and future needs of your customer's customer you will identify the future needs of your customer. This intensive need for learning, from defining a set of knowledge scopes, to actual data and information collection, in a way to generate knowledge and apply this new knowledge to action immediately is the reason why management is the key determining factor for success. -In terms of the weight analysis of the determinants for start-up business, managerial ability was considered to be the most important factor in the USA, followed by marketing factors and economic/financial factors.‖ (Lee & Osteryoung, 2002). Evers (2003) summarizing previous academic literature, concludes that -Despite these attempts to offer an all encompassing framework, these variables are loosely defined, where more specific factors are needed. ‖ Evers (2003). Ries (2011) identifies the fact that enables start-up companies to test fast the two riskier hypotheses of their business plan; the value (the actual value as perceived by the potential customer or user) and growth (ability of the start-up to grow fast enlisting new customers) assumptions. -The ‗action-learning' process that characterizes many entrepreneurial corporations is a regular assessment of options, actions, and evaluation, combined with the active development and maintenance of knowledge… (De Massis et al., 2018). Stankevich (2017) summarizes consumer decisions processes. Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard, & Hogg (2006) define the decision-making process as the amount of effort that goes into the decision each time it must be made.
Further studies highlight the need for development of a minimum viable product: -For a start-up, it is essential to validate its value and growth hypotheses as soon as possible. In order to do that, the company has to come up with a version of its product that is complete enough to demonstrate the value it brings to the users: a minimum viable product (MVP). It then needs to design experiments that will use the MVP to confirm (or refute) its value and growth hypotheses.‖ (Rancic Moogk, 2012). (2010)  research, conclude -According to Cho & McLean (2009), Information Technology (IT) Startups, also referred to as new technology-based enterprises, are those temporary organisations that create innovative products and/or services using high technology, but this Type of companies are also known to be inserted in uncertain and risky scenarios, proof of this is their high mortality rate (Chang et al., 2012). In addition, LeRouge, Ma, Sneha, & Tolle (2013) highlight the role of Persona Development for marketing purposes.

Brauer & Schimmer
In addition, the way that innovations are introduced into the market leaves plenty of room available for legal consideration as far as compliance with existing legislation and ethics is concerned. Compliance, regulation and legal issues may create problems during the initial commercialization phase or several years later. The examples of Microsoft's Internet Explorer (which lead to trial for monopolistic behaviour, endangering the company structure, 1999), MP3.com and Napster.com (both in trial for permitting users violating copyright laws, 1999-2000), Uber (2017-2018), AirBnB (issues regarding income taxation, 2017-2018) and business ethics.
Brown (2017) introduce the concept of Scalable learning, concluding that it enables organisations regarding knowledge management; the more people they join, they learn faster, developing network externalities in knowledge management. This approach is of particular interest to high growing start-ups, with many employees on boarding.
According to Blank (2013) -lean start-up,‖ strategy favours experimentation over elaborate planning, customer feedback over intuition, and iterative design over traditional -big design up front‖ development. Although the -lean start-up methodology‖ is just a few years old, its concepts-such as -minimum viable product‖ and -pivoting‖-have quickly taken root in the start-up world, and business schools have already begun adapting their curricula to teach them (Blank, 2013).
With more hypotheses than actual knowledge, at least at the beginning and the first stages, start-ups are therefore organisations required to be able to collect data and information and transfer them to actual knowledge, in terms of product characteristics and market segments (and they need to do this fast); the startup therefore needs not only to be able to manage knowledge but to be a fast learning organisation. Actually start-uppers need to collect information and data, create knowledge (in terms of product requirements, specifications, market needs, people, and business or daily and transactional processes) and manage effectively this knowledge in order to develop a successful marker offering (product or service) to a new or existing market.

B. Framework Discussion: 24 Steps to a Successful Start-Up
Aulet (2017), published -Disciplined Entrepreneurship, 24 Steps to a Successful Start Up‖ which attempts to provide an integrated, analytical framework for the steps required in order to create a successful start-up company. Aulet highlights the role of entrepreneurial education and concludes that entrepreneurial education has to start before the producthas to do with identification of opportunities, or the creation of new markets. The value of Aulet's framework lays to the fact that it provides an integrated approach to practically all steps of entrepreneurial challenges and in fact includes Knowledge Challenges identified by previous academic studies. Aulet's approach provides an analytical guide to cover most challenges each startup has to come through, and, as such, it becomes easier to identify knowledge challenges in each step. (2015)  Even though all the above frameworks highlight the stages of start-up evolution, and each stage can be used for linking certain development stages of the start-up with associated knowledge management challenges; however Aulet (2017) offers a more detailed analysis of the various stages of start-up development and for this reason the specific approach is used for linking development stages of start-up with knowledge management challenges.

Salamzadeh & Kawamorita
Based on Aulet (2017) framework of Disciplined Entrepreneurship (24 steps), a number of knowledge challenges can be identified associated to each one of the 24 steps; to this respect, this approach provides a clear identification of Knowledge Challenges that each Start-Up needs to overcome. The following table (Table 2) presents the 24 Steps and the knowledge challenges associated with each step.  (2015) Brauer & Schimmer (2010) 11. Chart Competitive Position Define the key criteria (2 to 6) for customer's purchasing decisions in your segment / market. Define where you stand in relation to your competition, and how you can improve. Note: Charting your competitive position may help entrepreneurs define their next moves and key areas where they need to focus more, and as a result, have an idea of the resources required to do so. 12.
Customer Decision Making Unit Who Participates? What are their roles (e.g. Product Champion, Influencers, Compliance, Finance/ROI)? How they Buy? Sales Cycle? Note: Helps entrepreneurs develop selling propositions for each member of the customer decision making unit. Solomon et al. (2006) Stankevich (2017) 13.
Map Process to Paying Customer Buying Process, (e.g. tender or direct assignment?), Testing Period, Payment Terms, Warranties. Listing as Approved Supplier. Timeframe for each step. Note: Helps entrepreneurs design their sales and marketing processes or even their business model, to shorten sales cycles. This step is closely associated with the cost of sales. Richardson (2016) 14.
Total Addressable Markets Following Evaluate markets / segmentsdefine your next market / segment after the beachhead. (Ideally 1 billion market valuecombined with beachhead for VCs). Selection Criteria and Market Analysis. Brauer & Schimmer (2010)  Herschel & Nemati (2000), Grant (1999), Rancic Moogk (2012) The table above provides a link between the steps necessary to build a successful start-up company and the knowledge challenges in each step of the way. Therefore, the specific approach creates an event-paced approach to knowledge required for a start-up company; once the goals of each step are accomplished, which requires relevant knowledge to be created and applied, the start-up can move to the next step, in order to face new knowledge challengesagain new knowledge has to created and applied successfully to let the start-up move to the next step.
This approach follows the lean start-up approach; not all knowledge is required in the first steps of the start-up formation, not even the official registration of a company. In fact, during the first steps the team has to be created and skills and experiences to be combined, and the first steps require a deep analysis of the market and the various segments that the start-up company wishes to serve (Steps 1-5). Steps 6, 7 and 8 are related to product characteristics, to the way the product fits into user processes and an evaluation of the value the product offers to end users.
The next steps have their own goals -identify customers, define (and protect) company's core, understand the processes that lead to paying customers before selecting a suitable business model and a pricing policy; then test hypotheses and explore further opportunities to grow.

C. Knowledge Management & Challenges
Aulet's framework provides a set of knowledge challenges that are related to the start-up success. However once the start-up company is successfulat least at its first stepsnew challenges appear; this time challenges are related with the task of managing the company.
To a certain degree, this type of knowledge management can have to do with management duties or supportive actions, which can be assigned to third parties (such as accounting and legal issues). However on the way that the successful start-up evolves into a company, a number of managerial related challenges arise in several functional areas. These involve Legal (company set up), Accounting, and aspects of management functions (Hiring and Training new employees, setting goals and budgets in each department, etc).

IV. CONCLUSION
The study provides an integrated approach regarding the key Knowledge Challenges for start-up companies.  Knowledge Challenges related to Management of the company, and actions to secure further growth and business expansion, product and market development. Focused on Performance and Operational Effectiveness.
As a direct consequence, knowledge background (Level 1) can play a significant role, especially in the case of specific knowledge and entrepreneurial education, which enables would-be entrepreneurs to identify areas of possible business opportunities. However ability to create hypotheses, collect data, create and apply new knowledge, and take corrective action whenever necessary, is critical for a specific start-up venture (Level 2). Finally, managerial and growth-aimed knowledge (Level 3) is required once the start-ups become a success, in order to further manage the company.
The different knowledge challenges also require different ways to create the required knowledge; market research and data collection (including secondary data) may provide some useful hints, but in the end the market will respondpositive or notto the value proposition (product or service proposal, Minimum Viable Product proposal), and actual customers and users may offer advice for further product development.
Furthermore, a key question depends on the vision of start-up founders; are they addressing current needs or aim for the future; data collection from mainstream customers may lead to development of product that fit current needs; or cost opportunities for disruptive approaches that may become leaders in the future. -Innovate incrementally on proven technology through a continued R&D process‖. This way the firm develops modifications for the basic product and process ‗‗without undertaking major basic research in areas unrelated to the original successful innovation'' (Grosse & Kujawa, 1995). In addition, the ways Consumers and Buyers learn can also become a segmentation criterion in the future. Academic studies Shukla, Swami, & Sharma (2010) distinguish process oriented learners, who focus on product features and ways to use the product, from content learners who focus on the end benefits. Brauer & Schimmer (2010) uses the example of fax market; while market research focused to current customer needs and willingness to buy prevented USA companies to commercialize fax technology which their customers responded they will not need, while Japanese companies, focused on the benefits that fax technology will be offering to their business customers, dominated this market for decades.
To this respect, market analysis and segmentation is of profound importance; and academic research provides a number of criteria and approaches for market segmentation. -Market segmentation is the art and science of partitioning people or things into distinct groups‖ (Grant, 1999). In addition, Conjoint Analysis provides a link between product characteristics and market segments; -the central idea of conjoint analysis is that products and services can be described by a set of attribute levels. Purchasers attach different values to the levels of different attributes. Then they choose the offering that has the highest total value, adding up all the part-worths‖ (Grant, 1999). Conjoint Analysis, along with market segmentation and design thinking methodologies enable start-ups to evaluate carefully their Minimum Viable Product approach, total value proposition and quantify the end user benefits.
Further academic research focused on disruptive innovation highlights a different potential approach. C. M. Christensen & Overdorf (2000) conclude that as established companies focus on mainstream markets and invest in proved technologies to secure their market share in existing markets, they fail to realize and invest