A method to diagnose high tech ventures

Abstract

Consideration is given to the Bell-Mason Diagnostic, a rule-based tool designed to characterize the status of a high-information-technology start-up, at each stage of growth. The diagnostic is being used to aid the planning and diagnosis of start-up entrepreneurial and established company, entrapreneurial ventures. A venture is evaluated at a particular stage of its growth by answering a series of questions that contain the rules (the expertise) to measure each of twelve characterization dimensions. The answers are tallied and plotted on a 12-dimensional relational or Kiviat graph, which is then compared with the ideal for that stage of development. The graph highlights potential deficiencies and pinpoints areas that are in or out of balance in order to visualize the situation.<>