Analysis of Differences in Performance Drivers Across Startup Growth Stages

This study investigates how the determinants of startup performance differ across growth stages by analyzing five internal capabilities?entrepreneurship, strategy, organization, human resources, and financial capabilities. Drawing on stage-based growth theories and the Timmons Model, the study compares early-stage startups (≤ 3 years) and growth-stage startups (3–7 years) using multi-group structural equation modeling (SEM) with survey data from 200 startup C-level executives in Korea. The overall structural model confirms that all five capabilities positively and significantly affect startup performance. Effect-size comparisons reveal that entrepreneurship is the most influential factor, followed by organizational and strategic capabilities. Human resources and financial capabilities show smaller yet significant impacts. The multi-group analysis demonstrates stage-dependent differences. In the early stage, entrepreneurship and human resources exert significant positive effects, whereas strategy, organization, and financial resources do not. In the growth stage, strategic capability, organizational capability, and financial capability emerge as dominant predictors, while entrepreneurship and human resources lose direct significance. Chi-square difference tests confirm that all path coefficients differ significantly between stages, indicating that the relative importance of internal capabilities shifts systematically as startups evolve. These findings contribute empirical evidence to life-cycle and contingency theories by validating that startup success depends on stage-appropriate capabilities. Practically, the results highlight the need for founders, policymakers, and investors to realign managerial priorities and support programs according to developmental stage.