Skip to content

Software Startup Practices - Software Development in Startups Through the Lens of the Essence Theory of Software Engineering

Feb 2021 · International Conference on Product Focused Software Process Improvement · pp. 402-418 · 5 citations · 27 references
Computer Science Engineering

TL;DR

This paper study software development in startups from the point of view of practices to better understand how startups develop software, and devise a list of practices which are categorized using the Essence Theory of Software Engineering (Essence).

Abstract

. Software startups continue to be important drivers of economy globally. As the initial investment required to found a new software company becomes smaller and smaller resulting from technological advances such as cloud technology, increasing numbers of new software startups are born. Startups are considered to differ from other types of software organizations in various ways, including software development. In this paper, we study software development in startups from the point of view of practices to better understand how startups develop software. Using extant literature and case study data, we devise a list of practices which we categorize using the Essence Theory of Software Engineering (Essence). Based on the data, we propose a list of common practices utilized by software startups. Additionally, we propose potential changes to Essence to make it better suited for the software startup context.

Read PDF

Similar papers

Review Open access Aug 2026

Software Development Methodologies Evolutionary Trends from Waterfall to DevOps

It was identified that the industry tends to follow a hybrid Agile-DevOps practice with more emphasis on automation, continuous integration and collaboration to achieve quick and competitive software environments.

Raman Kumar · 0 citations
Review

On the Understanding of the Benefits and Challenges of DT Adoption in Software Development: a Cross-data Analysis

This extended article analyzed 213 Brazilian professionals’ perceptions of the benefits and challenges of using DT in software development and compares those collected from other professionals’, serving as a guide for practitioners on the use of DT in software development.

Gabriel Kryvoruchca, R. Parizi, Lauriane Correa et al. · 0 citations
Conference Open access 2026

Critical Success Factors in Global Software Development: A Systematic Literature Review

Seven major CSFs that drive success in globally distributed projects are revealed, highlighting a major paradigm shift within the software industry: socio-technical skills and reliable technology now carry significantly more weight than strict, traditional processes.

Chellal Mostafa, Mohammed Saber, M. Belkasmi · 0 citations
Open access Jul 2026

Qualitative Analysis of Industry Personnel’s Perspective on Future Ready Software Engineering Undergraduate Employability

The objective of this research is to obtain feedback from industry experts to understand the challenges related to the employability of future-ready software engineering undergraduate students and employs a qualitative study to gather the views of the experts.

Nor Azliana Akmal Jamaludin, Najjah Salwa Abd Razak, U. F. Abdul Rauf et al. · 0 citations

Related blog posts

Microsoft Research Blog Oct 6, 2026

What AI gets wrong and what failure teaches us

Jennifer Neville did not want to go into computer science—but that’s exactly where she landed. Neville discusses the starts and stops that led to her professional sweet spot and her work identifying “surprising failures” making it hard for AI to handle complexity.  The post What AI gets wrong and what failure teaches us appeared first on Microsoft Research.

Microsoft Research Blog Jul 30, 2026

Echoverse: Deep, evolving environments for computer-use agents

Computer-use AI agents struggle with multi-step workflows like email and customer support. Echoverse trains agents in realistic environments rather than simply providing more training tasks, helping them improve as the tasks, tests, and environments evolve. The post Echoverse: Deep, evolving environments for computer-use agents appeared first on Microsoft Research.

Microsoft Research Blog Oct 15, 2026

Proof-based general-purpose computing with Magnetar

Zero-knowledge proofs can verify computing results without rerunning workloads or exposing sensitive data. Magnetar helps bring them into the mainstream with support for standard programming languages, major speed gains, and quantum-resistant security. The post Proof-based general-purpose computing with Magnetar appeared first on Microsoft Research.

We use cookies to run the site and, with your consent, for analytics and to show ads. See our Cookie Policy.