Commercializing Generic Technology: The Case of Advanced Materials Ventures

Generic, radical technology is of interest because of its potential for value creation across a broad range of industries and applications. Advanced materials ventures are attracted by this opportunity yet face intensified challenges in commercializing technology of this kind as upstream entrants into distinct established value chains. In this paper, we build on Freeman’s concept of technological innovation as a technological and market matching process to develop a new model of the variables influencing value creation by advanced materials ventures. We then demonstrate the model using evidence from a sample of 10 US advanced materials ventures, including an in-depth case study exemplar. From the literature, our model, and our case study observation, we construct four propositions concerning the success of advanced materials ventures in commercializing radical technology