Performance and resilience of Italian start-ups: a quantitative approach

This chapter focuses on the performance of profitability and financial structure of Italian innovative startups over the decade 2013–2022 to test three hypotheses: (H1) profitability is stably positive and high; (H2) profitability sustains adequate financial statements; and (H3) performance is influenced by location. For this purpose, the financial statements of 9.860 Italian startups are analyzed for the country and its three macro-regions (North, Centre, South and Islands). Key ratios were processed by calculating descriptive statistics and subjecting them to the ANOVA and Tukey Kramer tests. The analysis showed that size is increasing, especially for employees and turnover. Profitability is positive on average but modest. The trend in financial structure is fluctuating, while the coverage of tangible assets is stabilizing. The pandemic crisis and wars have had modest effects. There are several management implications. First, operators can compare their performance with the average. Then, trade associations and public institutions can formulate supportive and guiding policies. The purely quantitative nature of this research is its main limitation. To remedy this, researchers should, in the future, use additional indices and flows, linking them to qualitative analyses and studies on organizational performance and sustainability.