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Fundamentals of Software Startups

Essential Engineering and Business Aspects

  • Discusses important topics in the context of engineering and managing software startups, intended for entrepreneurs and practitioners
  • Covers the knowledge, skills, and capabilities required for product development; team capacity and team roles; technical debt; minimal viable products; startup metrics; and common pitfalls
  • Complemented by several startup case studies from Finland, Norway, Brazil, Russia and USA

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Table of contents (20 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xx
  2. Fundamental Concepts

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. Six Pillars of Modern Entrepreneurial Theory and How to Use Them

      • Yngve Dahle, Anh Nguyen-Duc, Martin Steinert, Kevin Reuther
      Pages 3-25
    3. Pivoting in Software Startups

      • Sohaib Shahid Bajwa
      Pages 27-43
    4. The Perception and Management of Technical Debt in Software Startups

      • Cecilia Apa, Helvio Jeronimo, Luciana M. Nascimento, Diego Vallespir, Guilherme Horta Travassos
      Pages 61-78
  3. Startup Engineering Methodology

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 79-79
    2. Software Startup ESSENCE: How Should Software Startups Work?

      • Kai-Kristian Kemell, Anh Nguyen-Duc, Xiaofeng Wang, Juhani Risku, Pekka Abrahamsson
      Pages 97-109
    3. Startup Metrics That Tech Entrepreneurs Need to Know

      • Kai-Kristian Kemell, Xiaofeng Wang, Anh Nguyen-Duc, Jason Grendus, Tuure Tuunanen, Pekka Abrahamsson
      Pages 111-127
  4. Startup Ecosystems

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 145-145
    2. Startup Ecosystem Maturity and Visualization: The Cases of New York, Tel Aviv, and San Paolo

      • Daniel Cukier, Fabio Kon, Enxhi Gjini, Xiaofeng Wang
      Pages 179-194
    3. Thailand’s Software Startup Ecosystem

      • Aziz Nanthaamornphong, Rattana Wetprasit
      Pages 195-213
  5. Software Startup Education

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 215-215
    2. Software Startup Education: A Transition from Theory to Practice

      • Rafael Chanin, Afonso Sales, Rafael Prikladnicki
      Pages 217-234
    3. Teaching “Through” Entrepreneurship: An Experience Report

      • Xiaofeng Wang, Dron Khanna, Marco Mondini
      Pages 235-250

About this book

This book discusses important topics for engineering and managing software startups, such as how technical and business aspects are related, which complications may arise and how they can be dealt with. It also addresses the use of scientific, engineering, and managerial approaches to successfully develop software products in startup companies.


The book covers a wide range of software startup phenomena, and includes the knowledge, skills, and capabilities required for startup product development; team capacity and team roles; technical debt; minimal viable products; startup metrics; common pitfalls and patterns observed; as well as lessons learned from startups in Finland, Norway, Brazil, Russia and USA. All results are based on empirical findings, and the claims are backed by evidence and concrete observations, measurements and experiments from qualitative and quantitative research, as is common in empirical software engineering.


The book helps entrepreneurs and practitioners to become aware of various phenomena, challenges, and practices that occur in real-world startups, and provides insights based on sound research methodologies presented in a simple and easy-to-read manner. It also allows students in business and engineering programs to learn about the important engineering concepts and technical building blocks of a software startup. It is also suitable for researchers at different levels in areas such as software and systems engineering, or information systems who are studying advanced topics related to software business.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Business and IT, University of Southeast Norway, Bø i Telemark, Norway

    Anh Nguyen-Duc

  • Center for Entrepreneurship, Reutlingen University, Reutlingen, Germany

    Jürgen Münch

  • School of Technology, PUCRS, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Rafael Prikladnicki

  • Facoltà di Scienze e Tecnologie Informatiche, La Libera Università di Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy

    Xiaofeng Wang

  • Faculty of Information Technology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Pekka Abrahamsson

About the editors

Anh Nguyen Duc is an Associate Professor at the University of South-Eastern Norway. He has authored/co-authored more than 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals, conferences, and workshops. His current research interests include software startup research, analytical software security, global software engineering, and empirical software engineering.


Jürgen Münch is a Professor of Software Engineering, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation at Reutlingen University, Germany. His research interests include product management, product strategy, product design, startup methods, and measurement. He has been a principal investigator of numerous research and industrial development projects. He has been chairing several renowned scientific conferences such as the ACM/IEEE Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement (ESEM).


Rafael Prikladnicki is a Director of TECNOPUC (PUCRS' Science and Technology Park) since 2013 and professor at PUCRS since 2004. He is a professor of the Graduate Program in Computer Science at PUCRS since 2010. He also serves as chair of the advisory board of IEEE Software Magazine. He was one of the founders of Agile Alliance Brazil and a member of its board of directors from 2013 to 2017. His main areas of research are software engineering and entrepreneurship, global software engineering, agile methodologies, diversity in software engineering and empirical software engineering. 


Xiaofeng Wang is an Associate Professor at the Computer Science Faculty, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy. Her main research areas include software startups, agile and lean software development and innovation, continuous improvement of software processes, and human factors in software engineering. She is actively publishing in both software engineering and information systems venues, including Empirical Software Engineering, IEEE Software, Journalof Systems and Software, Information Systems Research, etc. 


Pekka Abrahamsson is a Full Professor of  Information Systems and Software Engineering at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland.  He is a pioneer in the field of agile software development research and has lead two large international research projects (AGILE-ITEA, FLEXI-ITEA2). His mobile-D™ development method is the most applied mobile application development method. His current research interests include empirical software engineering, ethics in artificial intelligence, software startups, and software robots. He holds an h-index of 44 and has delivered 20 keynotes in international conferences.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Fundamentals of Software Startups

  • Book Subtitle: Essential Engineering and Business Aspects

  • Editors: Anh Nguyen-Duc, Jürgen Münch, Rafael Prikladnicki, Xiaofeng Wang, Pekka Abrahamsson

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35983-6

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Computer Science, Computer Science (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-35982-9Published: 29 February 2020

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-35985-0Published: 28 February 2021

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-35983-6Published: 28 February 2020

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XX, 345

  • Number of Illustrations: 72 b/w illustrations, 36 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: The Computer Industry, Innovation/Technology Management, Software Engineering, Start-Ups/Venture Capital, The Computing Profession

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access