Exploring the origins of entrepreneurial fraud among startup founders

Essay from the year 2023 in the subject Business economics - Company formation, Business Plans, grade: 1,3, University of Würzburg (Chair of Entrepreneurship and Strategy), course: Illuminating the dark side of entrepreneurship: Startups and criminal activities, language: English, abstract: This thesis will investigate the factors and characteristics that are driving and facilitating the fraudulent behavior of founders in an environment of startups, leading to the following research question: What are the characteristics and factors that drive startup founders to commit entrepreneurial fraud? To show a highly accurate depiction of the origins of entrepreneurial fraud, this thesis will conduct a quantitative case study. The utilization of the case study approach is particularly advantageous when there is a requirement to gain a profound understanding of a specific issue, event, or phenomenon within its authentic real-life context. In recent years, startups emerged as a driving force behind job creation and innovation. The startup sector in Germany employed over 415,000 individuals in 2020, with numbers expected to grow even further. North America dominates the global unicorn landscape, accounting for 51% of the total, while Asia follows closely behind with 34%. Europe, on the other hand, only represents 12% of the world's unicorns. As of 2022, 25 of these unicorns - startups with a valuation of more than $1 billion - are based in Germany. Many of these fledgling businesses are characterized by a high innovative potential as well as the risk of failure.