Initiating open innovation collaborations between incumbents and startups: How can David and Goliath get along?

In recent years, the phenomenon of open innovation has been on the rise in established firms, especially in terms of collaboration with startups. While the success factors of open innovation endeavors have been researched intensively, how collaborations are established is not well understood. Furthermore, there is a lack of research regarding asymmetric partnerships in open innovation, as occurs when incumbents and startups collaborate. This study used a qualitative research design to approach the question of how incumbents select startups as partners in open innovation. The data incorporate the perspectives of both incumbents and startups along with the views of external experts. The findings are consolidated into a process model of partner selection for open innovation.