Harrisburg University of Science and Technology
Harrisburg University of Science and Technology
Digital Commons at Harrisburg University
Digital Commons at Harrisburg University
Dissertations and Theses
Project Management, Graduate (PMGT)
Fall 10-14-2020
The Difficulty With Introducing Project Management Techniques
The Difficulty With Introducing Project Management Techniques
in Digital Startups
in Digital Startups
Isabela Mantilla
imantilla@my.harrisburgu.edu
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Mantilla, I. (2020). The Difficulty With Introducing Project Management Techniques in Digital Startups.
Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.harrisburgu.edu/pmgt_dandt/53
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Running head: THE DIFFICULTY WITH INTRODUCING PROJECT MANAGEMENT
TECHNIQUES IN DIGITAL STARTUPS
The Difficulty With Introducing Project Management Techniques in Digital Startups
Isabela Mantilla
Harrisburg University
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DIGITAL STARTUPS
Abstract
Digital startups face complex issues when it comes to accurately using project management
techniques because of the startup’s scarcity of resources and the governance of projects , such as
having different stages of growth and development. Since project management is needed in almost
all businesses, dealing with this problem is important to improve the growth of startups and their
organizational issues. Because of the correlation between startups using traditional project
management techniques and their problems with implementing project management, this
traditional model might not be relevant for startups. Startups seem to require more flexible and
quick solutions to project management, suggesting that agile methods might be the right way for
most digital startups to use project management. By looking at how different startups in different
stages of development deal with problems in implementing project management by use of a
qualitative research study, this paper looks to back the statement that the way that startups function
leads to issues with implementing project management. Looking at how different startups have
dealt with these problems might suggest where and in which stage the problem lies, leading to the
possible solution of project management difficulty in startups.
Keywords: project management in startups, digital startups and project management difficulties,
project management difficulties in startups, digital
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Table of Contents
Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
4
Problem Statement and Justification …………………………………………………………………………………..
5
Literature Review …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
7
Proposed Solution Approach ……………………………………………………………………………………………
16
Results and Findings
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
21
Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
28
References …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
30
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Introduction
Digital startups are, in this digital world that we live in, a major source of growth, economic
stability, and job creation. Zaheer, Breyer, Dumay, & Enjeti (2019) stated that the digital start-up
sector is a “magnet for opportunity-driven entrepreneurs proficient in business and technical
fields”. They (Zaheer et al, 2019) describe that a digital startup is any startup that centers around
the creation of digital tools, assets or products. This sector holds many qualities entrepreneurs look
for, like high demand, high-profit margins, early-stage technology life cycles, medium competition
density, and growth potential. Digital startups are now relevant in most of the world’s most
important markets according to Sulayman (2014), which makes it all the more important to
understand them and how they work, understand their complexities and issues they face because
startups do not function the same way as bigger companies do.
According to Blank (2012), a startup is defined as “an organization formed to search for a
repeatable and scalable business model”. This suggests that startups work with a different business
model than medium or large organizations and therefore have different priorities and different
ways to handle problems and projects. But, as much growth as startups can bring to the world, they
are characterized by a scarcity of resources, making it more difficult for them to use their assets in
a way that will help them grow and scale in a much more realistic way. The way they function and
deal with problems also makes them struggle when implementing project management techniques.
This is why it is important to take a look at papers like this one, where the reason why project
management techniques are hard to implement in digital startups is explored. It is also a good
source of understanding of how important project management techniques are to the successful
working of an organization.
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DIGITAL STARTUPS
Problem Statement and Justification
Despite project management being implemented in many different organizations and
industries, startups, especially those in the digital realm, have different priorities and problems that
make it more difficult for project management to be implemented successfully. According to Blank
(2015), a startup is defined as “an organization formed to search for a repeatable and scalable
business model” (Blank, 2015, p.20). This suggests that startups work with a different business
model than medium or large organizations and therefore have different priorities and different
ways to handle problems and projects. , such as the way the govern projects, the way they receive
funding and manage resources. According to Zaheer et al. (2019), the digital startup sector holds
many qualities entrepreneurs look for, like high demand, high-profit margins, early-stage
technology life cycles, medium competition density, and growth potential. Startups are now
relevant in most of the world’s important markets according to Sulayman (2016), so why
specifically is it more difficult for digital startups to implement project management techniques?
According to Teixeira, Martins, Branco & Gonçalves (2018), project management in
digital startups is a recent concept, especially when it comes to its application in small and medium
enterprises (SME); startups typically have reduced resources and can’t make very risky
investments. Therefore, there is an increasing importance for research focusing on the adoption of
project management techniques by these companies, such as this thesis, to “reach a full
understanding on what might be the obstacles and determinants of the adoption process”. (Teixeira
et al., 2018, p.11) A difficulty in project management adoptions can negatively affect the growth
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of a startup and can lead to organizational issues, such as disorganization, inability to follow
timelines and complete deadlines, making it an important problem to understand and solve.
A possible cause of this problem found during the research process is how different the
governance of projects is in startups. Startups have different development stages, and projects work
differently in each stage, suggesting project management might work differently in each stage.
Pugliese (2016), suggests it is important to understand the stages of development of a startup and
how to manage each stage to achieve success in order to identify which factors of success are
relevant to the stages of development. Therefore, to be able to understand how project management
techniques can work successfully in startups, we need to understand how success works in the
different stages of development of a startup. This indicates that different project management
techniques might be needed to be looked at to see how they can be implemented in a startup.
There is a definite problem with implementing traditional project management models into
startups. This suggests that traditional project management models might not be the way to go
when it comes to startups. Some possible topics to explore might be the implementation of agile
models in startups. Startups need to build a business that is sustainable in an uncertain
environment, which “is achieved by testing business ideas and validating them through successes
or failures” (Galli, 2019, p.15). Startups need to be innovative and use innovative tools to be able
to compete and be profitable compared to medium-large companies. Therefore, one innovative
approach could be the lean startup method. “The lean startup approach seeks to provide tools to
decrease product development cycles by creating hypotheses and experiments through an iterative
process. The iterative process is also a learning one through which information that is collected is
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validated.” (Galli, 2019, p.20). Exploring this subject has the potential to revolutionize how
project management in startups works.
Literature Review
Literature Review Introduction
While searching for literature, the focus was on finding different project management
techniques in startups and how they worked or if they worked. The result was more information
on startups and their functioning and less on how project management helped them. Project
Management techniques have been helping to structure businesses for years. However, there is a
problem with how project management is implemented in startups, especially in digital startups.
Therefore, it is important to understand the definition of startups, the way they work differently
than other organizations and in which stage of the development of a startup we might find this
problem, to provide a better understanding into project management and how it can be organized
in a way that is suitable for startups and the way they operate.
Since project management is important to have in every organization, including startups, it
is important to find where this issue might present itself and look at successful ways to implement
project management techniques into startups. Since they work differently, they might also need a
different approach to project management. This might lie in project management models like agile
or lean, as they are better techniques to handle businesses that have as much uncertainty as startups
do.
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Four common themes were found during research for the topic of Project
Management Implementation Problems in Digital Startups. These are:
1. Definition of startups and how they operate
2. Importance of project management in businesses, especially startups
3. Successes in implementing different project management techniques in startups
4. Exploring different project management models to implement in startups
Theme 1: Definition of Startups and How They Operate
Startups are defined and structured differently than bigger businesses, making it important to look
at the definition of startups and how they solve problems. As identified by Pollman, “The world’s
largest companies in 2019 by market capitalization—Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon—all began
as startups” (Pollman, 2019, p.156). Even more influential ones, “such as Google, Facebook,
Amazon, Uber, Airbnb, Salesforce, and Spotify – started as digital ventures.” (Zaheer et al., 2019,
p.262). Therefore, defining them and understanding them is of the utmost importance.
According to Niculescu (2016) “one definition of a startup is the natural urge designed to develop
new products in an environment of extreme uncertainty” (Niculescu, 2016, p.130). Uncertainty is,
then, ingrained in startups and, for most, can be difficult to handle. “Uncertainty is an inevitable
aspect of most projects, but even the most proficient managers have difficulty handling it.” (De
Meyer, Loch, & Pich, 2002, p.60). Pollman (2019) also suggests that startups, “with their focus
on technology and innovation, and their correspondingly high levels of risk and emphasis on
growth, are different from both public corporations and traditional closely held corporations. As a
result, their governance is also different” (Pollman, 2019, p.159).
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DIGITAL STARTUPS
Startups are also defined as organizations started by entrepreneurs and backed by outside
investment “with the goal of developing an innovative product or service, creating high growth,
and exiting through a trade sale of the company or initial public offering (IPO)” (Pollman, 2019,
p.164). According to Sońta-Drączkowska, & Mrożewski, entrepreneurship companies “involve
discovery, evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities” (Sońta-Drączkowska, & Mrożewski,
2020, p. 295) Therefore, startups aim to exploit opportunities, like being acquired by other
organizations or becoming a public corporation. According to Wooder (2015), in the end, startups
strive to create products and services based on entrepreneurial ideas. They also “depend heavily
on innovative technologies. Innovation drives the creative mind of entrepreneurs, and it is a
necessity for growth and sustainability”. (Terry Frederick, 2016, p.8). They start at a seed-stage
and then progress through maturity stages, for which they have different focuses. In the early stage,
the focus is highly entrepreneurial and on innovation and technology. Later, they become focused
on refining product development to generate revenue and grow quickly, because “startups need to
be able to scale.” (Santisteban & Mauricio, 2017, p. 150) As the startup evolves to its late-stage,
its focus shifts to managing more complex issues and finding a way to be acquired or going public.
Theme 2: Importance of project management in businesses, especially startups
Project Management is important in all companies, including startups. Teixeira, S., Branco, F.,
Martins, J., Au-Yong-Oliveira, M., Moreira, F., Gonçalves, R., Pérez-Cota, M., & Jorge, F. (2018)
looked at how startups can successfully adopt and implement project management as a strategy in
their business plan. Given that startups have a number of elements that makes them different from
larger enterprises, like lack of capital and qualified human resources, (Pollman, 2019, p.170) they
need to really take a look at how to implement project management and adopt technology and
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DIGITAL STARTUPS
processes that will help them in the long run. According to Marković, Mihić and Obradović (2015,
p.25), more companies are using project management as a strategy to remain competitive, increase
value and bring in new business. The use of project management produces more efficient project
realization and “project management methods and criteria, can directly influence a better project
planning, realization and control in this domain.” (Marković et al, 2015, p. 29)
Project Management is now in its “third wave” of use, according to Obradović, Kostić, & Mitrović
(2016), where it has focused more on contemporary management practices, such as information
management and knowledge management. “There is a synergetic connection between project
management and marketing management” (Obradović et al, 2016, p.391) And, both private and
public sector organizations are marketing oriented, experiencing a bigger need for projects. So,
now more than ever, marketing management (which is predominantly high in startups), has gained
attention in project management research because it can help boost the performance of projects.
Project Management in Digital Marketing is a recent concept, especially when it comes to
its application in small and medium enterprises (SME), as are startups, that have reduced resources
and cannot make very risky investments. (Cova & Salle, 2015). Therefore, there is an increasing
demand for studies focusing on the adoption of project management technology by these
companies, so as to ‘reach a full understanding on what might be the obstacles and determinants
of the adoption process” (Teixeira et al., 2018, p.20). It is of the utmost importance for startups in
the digital marketing arena to implement project management.
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Theme 3: Successes in implementing different project management techniques in startups
Many successes make the way startups function important to world economies. It is important to
take a look at successes in implementing different techniques in startups. To comprehend how a
startup works and how to implement different management systems in them, one must first analyze
how a startup defines success. This is of great importance because, as stated by Santisteban &
Mauricio (2017), “new technology-based companies (Startups) are born each year” (Santisteban
& Mauricio, 2017, p.10). Therefore, startups are impacting economies now more than ever,
especially digital startups or technology startups. They are companies that have “a potential for
rapid growth scalability, contributing to an economy’s growth and job creation.” (Santisteban &
Mauricio, 2017, p.25). They are, now more than ever, relevant in the most dynamic markets in the
world as a new model for growth. Therefore, analyzing their successes is essential to better
understand how to make them better.
According to Santisteban & Mauricio (2017), only 21% of startups last more than
five years. That means almost 80% of startups fail and some in their first year of existence.
Therefore, analyzing the critical factors of success for digital startups, mitigating the risks and
failures, and helping increase their successes is critical to understand how to better utilize project
management in companies like these. There is also a recognized need for understanding of the
stages of development of a startup and the importance of project management in each stage to
achieve success. (Pollman, 2019) Therefore, it is important to identify which success factors are
relevant and influence the stages of development.
Knowledge Management in Startups works differently than it would in a medium-
large business. Taking a look at cases of knowledge management successes and failures in startups
will give a bigger understanding of how project management can influence a startup’s internal
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functioning. Centobelli, Cerchione & Esposito (2017) establish that knowledge management
includes project management and other management topics in an organization and is acquiring an
important role in the global economy and are a crucial factor for the growth of companies. Many
papers highlight the uses of knowledge management (KM) systems in small, medium, and large
companies and conclude that they are of crucial importance for their competitiveness. However,
there are very few contributions when it comes to the use of KM systems in startups. This is an
important item that needs to be addressed because startups now make up a big part of the economy
and, because of the nature of startups (scarcity of resources, small size), they could greatly benefit
from the adoption of knowledge management strategies and/or systems.
In startups, the processes of creation, storage, and transfer of knowledge should leverage
mainly on human knowledge, but spread through knowledge management systems (Centobelli,
Cerchione & Esposito, 2017). Therefore, KM systems should be aligned with the nature of the
knowledge in startups, which is different than medium or large companies. KM systems could help
deal with project management implementation issues in startups.
Theme 4: Exploring different project management models to implement in startups
Not all project management techniques are created equal. Traditional project management
models might not be the way to go when it comes to startups. Exploring this subject might
revolutionize how project management in startups works. There are many different perspectives
on what works best in organizations like startups, who “work in such extreme conditions that they
have only a 10% chance of succeeding” (Johnson, 2017, p.2). With so much uncertainty, traditional
project management techniques might not be the best way to organize the business. According to
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Johnson (2017), teams need to learn to change fast and use management processes that can ensure
order in a chaotic environment.
Others suggest a more forward-thinking approach is needed for project management within
startups. “Uncertainty-based management, which derives planning, monitoring and management
style from an uncertainty profile comprising four uncertainty types — variation, foreseen
uncertainty, unforeseen uncertainty and chaos.” (De Meyer et al, 2002, p.62). This type of thinking
allows managers to move from traditional-based projects based on fixed tasks to more flexible
approaches, that “allow for visions to change, even in the middle of the project.” (De Meyer et al,
2002, p.62). The methods and processes used in a lean startup and lean innovation could be applied
to companies in the startup arena, solving project management problems in startups. Because
startups are not traditional and they work with different environments, they also need non-
traditional methods. “Furthermore, the chaotic environment in which startups operate renders
traditional business planning tools and models inappropriate. This underlines the need for
innovative tools that allow startups to compete and be profitable.” (Galli, 2019, p.7) Taking a look
at the concept of lean methods and its origins and applying it to the startup world is an important
part of understanding how project management works in startups. “Startups are complex entities
that go beyond product and technological breakthroughs; they seek to build a business that is
sustainable in an uncertain environment, which is achieved by testing business ideas and validating
them through successes or failures. The lean startup method adapts the scientific principle to the
framework of free enterprise entrepreneurship.” (Galli, 2019, p.15). Therefore, these two seem to
fit. Galli also states that the lean startup method is a very innovative approach to creating viable
business models, like startups. A discussion of the difference between traditional business models
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and the lean approach was also found in the research, as well as the role of innovation as a
competitive advantage tool in organizations.
The paper by Galli studies the impact that innovation has on startups and organizations
seeking to implement project management innovation models. The assumption is that lean
innovation can be applied to any company, including tech startups. Innovation and
entrepreneurship are influenced by company culture, and since startups have very unique cultures,
the model fits well. “Lean or Agile provides a model of how any businesses can discover, develop,
and deploy innovative solutions under extreme uncertainty.” (Johnson, 2017, p.5). By evaluating
project management techniques like agile and lean management and applying them to technology
startups, we can understand the ways in which they can help within an organization, especially one
with extreme conditions like startups. Learning where it is most appropriate to use lean or agile
and how to transition between them can lead to insights into how they can help solve project
management problems in startups.
Literature Review Conclusion
The identified topics in this literature review were:
1. Definition of startups and how they operate
2. Importance of project management in businesses, especially startups
3. Successes in implementing different project management techniques in startups
4. Exploring different project management models to implement in startups
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DIGITAL STARTUPS
Based on the literature reviewed, there seems to be a correlation between startups deciding to use
traditional project management techniques and their problems with implementing project
management in their organization. This suggests that traditional project management models might
not be the way to go when it comes to startups. Startups seem to require more flexible and quick
solutions to project management, also known as “on the go” solutions; therefore, agile methods
like lean startup might be the right way for most startups, especially those in the tech and digital
realm, to use project management. Exploring this subject further could potentially solve the
problem of project management in startups.
By looking at how different startups in different stages of development deal with project
management and the problems they have found while implementing project management
techniques by use of a research study, specifically by means of a questionnaire, this paper looks to
back the statement that the way that startups and set up and function with different business models
leads to issues with implementing project management, as well as that traditional project
management techniques might not be relevant for startups, as some viewpoints might suggest.
Some viewpoints, such as Vytas Butkus, suggest that companies that are just starting out, like
startups, need the structure that traditional methods provide. Future research should look into how
startups using agile methodologies thrive when it comes to using project management and have a
higher success rate than those using traditional methods.
The existing literature reviewed fails to delve deeper into how project management systems
impact a startup’s performance. There is also some discrepancy when it comes to identifying the
influencing factors of success in startups and how they affect how startups function, as well as
analyzing these factors when it comes to the stages of development of a startup, which are very
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different from those of a medium-large company. More literature developed on this subject should
focus on how to implement project management techniques that might fit a startup, like lean
innovation models. This is where this thesis will focus. Therefore, my research question focuses
on why specifically is it more difficult for digital startups to implement project management
techniques? Are there specific project management tools that are better suited for the startup
sector?
Proposed Solution Approach
Purpose of the study and main results expected
The purpose of this study is to show the barriers in adoption that startups have with project
management, especially those in the digital sector, because of the uncertainty that we can find
in these organizations. It is important to show that there are other solutions than traditional
techniques that can be adjusted into the startup environment to make project management more
accessible. The results expected for this study are for startups to show how they have dealt
with project management and any other methodologies they might’ve used to solve this issue,
exploring where the problem lies in implementing project management techniques in startups.
Methodology
The methodology used in the qualitative research study is a questionnaire with open-ended
questions. This method will allow to collect in-depth information about how different startups
have dealt with project management problems and other methodologies they might use to solve
this issue.
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Process
The process used was first to create a series of questions that will allow to better understand
the problems startups face when it comes to project management techniques. A questionnaire
was then developed and sent out to different people in startups that are personally known by
the investigator and assuring that answers will be obtained. This allowed to collect in-depth
information about how different startups have dealt with project management problems and
other methodologies they might have used to solve this issue.
Then, contact with the representatives of the startups intended to participate in the study
was made and the questionnaire sent over. The questionnaire was conducted in a semi-
structured way and taking little time from the intended representatives, but enough time to be
relevant to the study and provide enough information. This enabled a deep understanding of
the companies studied and their methods, permitting comparison and generalization of
common patterns. After conducting the questionnaire, the data was transcribed and recorded,
then separated by the company’s theme and industry. The questionnaires were divided up by
theme and industry of company as well.
Four main points were investigated for the purpose of this study:
1. The industry of the company and their history
2. Their current project management strategy and goals
3. Their use of project management tools
4. Any problems they see with their use of project management and where they wish to be in
in the future
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Instruments used for data collection
For the purpose of this study, a questionnaire was used that will be sent virtually via Survey
Monkey.
Questionnaire
1. In what industry does your company work on?
2. How does the size of your company affect the project management techniques you use?
3. Please describe the maturity of your organization.
a) Concept stage b) Seed Stage c) Growth stage d) Scale stage
4. What organizational difficulties has your company faced?
5. What is your company’s current organizational goal?
6. Describe a time when your company experienced project management success.
7. Describe the project management techniques your company uses.
8. Describe the project management tools your company uses.
9. How has project management evolved over the course of the startup’s lifetime?
10. What are your company’s future goals for project management?
Consolidate Results
The way results were consolidated is by identifying themes and patterns, since the
questionnaire is mostly made up of open-ended questions. Then, these themes and patterns
were grouped and related to the research question. Each question was looked at separately
when grouped and similar patterns were looked at and underlined.
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Intended Sample and Setting
The intended sample for this project was non-random sampling with the purpose to collect
all the information needed and the best information from that sample. Overall, 10 startups in the
tech world were studied, but in different industries so as to get the most relevant sample.
Representatives of these 10 startups were chosen purposefully according to their role within the
organization and their knowledge on the subject and was conducted via a questionnaire sent via
email or LinkedIn. The questionnaire will be hosted on a third-party site called Survey Monkey.
The chosen startups also represented the different stages of development in the startup world,
meaning there are small startups that are just founded, those in a middle and more stable position
of development and then fully established startups that are public or are about to be. They also
represented different project management techniques, like those using traditional project
management methods and those using agile techniques, so as to see which ones have shown more
success and which ones have had more problems with their project management.
Validity and Reliability
The way that validity and reliability of results can be assured during this study is to make sure
to formulate the correct questions. Validity means the questionnaire will be able to give the
necessary results, while reliability means that the questionnaire is consistent, stable and accurate.
The way to make sure that the questionnaire is valid and reliable is to make sure to ask everyone
the same questions and, again, make sure these questions are correct and give the necessary amount
of detail needed to formulate a conclusion from them. They must dig deeper into the issues found
in startups when it comes to project management and why.
To make sure results are of quality, the right representatives of a startup were chosen to answer
the questionnaire. The chosen representative should be knowledgeable on the company, have
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seniority and know about project management techniques that the company uses. This assures,
therefore, that the questions will be answered appropriately and sufficiently in-depth.
Finally, to make sure the results reflect the problem that is attempted to be resolved, startups
that were all in different stages of the development process were chosen, therefore ensuring that
we can see how they manage project management difficulties during each stage of development.
The different startups also had different project management techniques, like traditional project
management and agile project management, so as to show a difference in success within these
different techniques.
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Results and Findings
When considering the research question, which is why specifically it is more difficult for
digital startups to implement project management techniques, the existing literature found gaps in
knowledge regarding how project management systems impacted a startup’s performance. There
was also some discrepancy in identifying the influencing factors of success in startups and how
they affect how startups function. This raised the question: are there specific project management
tools that are better suited for the startup sector? Are these impacted by the stages of development
a startup is located in? This is where this thesis focused and most of the questions of the survey
centered around, finding themes in common for each question. Some of these themes included
what industry the startups surveyed were in, how their size affected how they used project
management, the stage of maturity they were in, the organizational difficulties they face, and their
current and future project management goals.
Results
Ten (10) startups in the digital sector were surveyed during the course of this study, all
belonging to different industries of the digital sector. Out of 10 startups surveyed, 2 belonged to
the healthcare industry, 3 belonged to general public services (like construction, products/services
or online consumer goods) and 4 belongs to digital services (like online marketing, ecommerce
and IT, and B2B software). The 10 startups evaluated were also all at different levels of growth or
maturity, ranging from Concept Stage, which 3 of them were at, Seed Stage, where 2 of them were
at, the Growth Stage, where 3 of them were at and the Scale Stage, which 2 of them were at. This
means all of them were at different stages of growth and therefore faced different problems each.
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THE DIFFICULTY WITH INTRODUCING PROJECT MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES IN
DIGITAL STARTUPS
Most of the startups agreed that they faced difficulties when it came to lack of resources or
organization (8 out of 10) while the other 2 struggled with meeting demands and facing unforeseen
circumstances. Most of the startups had also decided to stick to traditional methods. Out of 10
startups surveyed, 3 used traditional methods while 4 used online services and only 2 had started
using agile services.
70%
20%
10%
What organizational difficulties has your
company faced?
Lack of resources/time management
and organization
Scaling up/ meeting demand
Funding or unforeseen difficulties
23
THE DIFFICULTY WITH INTRODUCING PROJECT MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES IN
DIGITAL STARTUPS
All the startups surveyed had different organizational goals, but the themes identified
during the study could be divided into three categories: getting funding, growth and transitioning
to remote. Out of the 10 startups surveyed, 3 wanted to get more funding, 6 wanted to grow and
one wanted to transition to remote (this is due to 2020 circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic).
At one point or another, these startups had experienced some success when it came to utilizing
project management and it seemed to come in different ways for the 10 startups surveyed, but the
themes identified were success when they’d used agile methods, success with traditional methods
and having a plan for the future. 4 of them had had success using agile methods, 3 of them had had
success with traditional methods and 3 had had success with planning for the future. This suggests
that, while some of the startups had had success using traditional methods, more of them had tried
agile methods at one point or another.
30%
40%
30%
Describe a time when your company
experienced project management
success.
Using traditional methods
Using Agile methods
Planning for the future
24
THE DIFFICULTY WITH INTRODUCING PROJECT MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES IN
DIGITAL STARTUPS
This also suggests some startups use traditional methods, while other use traditional
methods currently. 6 out of the 10 startups surveyed used traditional methods like WBS, PERT
and Gannt charts and were having problems with them, whereas 4 startups used agile methods like
Kanban, Lean Startup and Trello. 4 out of 10 startups use office products as project management
tools like Excel, Google Docs, while 5 use online products like Asana, Jira or Trello.
During the course of this study, it was important to see if startups were happy with their
project management methods or if they would have changed course at some point in their journey.
Most of the startups identified that while they grew over time, their project management had
evolved from agile to more lean methods (4 out of 10), while the rest had changed from traditional
to agile (3) or hadn’t changed at all (1).
40%
30%
30%
How has project management
evolved over the course of the
startup’s lifetime?
Agile/Lean
Traditional to Agile
No change/Not specified
