A significant share of new technology-based ventures exit through trade sale at an early stage of firm development. While trade sale is an important exit route for entrepreneurs and investors, and a potential source of new innovations and technology for acquiring firms, we have limited knowledge about the factors that help to effectively achieve a trade sale. We employ a unique dataset tracking the population of research-based spin-offs in Norway and conduct in-depth case studies of nine trade sales. Building on 52 interviews and other secondary data, we inductively develop propositions outlining three dimensions that lead to a successful trade sale—potential synergies, credible alternatives, and uncertainty reduction. We show that these enablers of trade sales are not only linked to the focal venture but also related to the idiosyncratic dyad with the buyer, reflecting both the potential for and likelihood of trade sale. Consequently, our study contributes to the literatures on entrepreneurial exit and academic entrepreneurship by mapping the important but under-explored area of trade sale as an exit mode.

Plain English SummaryPotential synergies and credible alternatives increase the potential of a research-based spin-offs’ trade sale, but the likelihood of a trade sale depends on how uncertainty reduction is managed. A trade sale is an important exit route for entrepreneurs and investors, and a potential source of new innovations and technology for acquiring firms. Research-based spin-offs are often acquired during their early stages of development by large corporations. We track the population of Norwegian research-based spin-offs and study nine trade sales in depth. Our findings concerning the importance of synergy potential, credible alternatives, and uncertainty reduction have implications for both academic entrepreneurs and potential buyers for how they can complete an exit through trade sale. Since scientific research is critical for society, our findings have implications for policymakers in the form of interesting ideas for influencing trade sales, a potentially important route for commercialization of scientific research.

在公司发展的早期阶段，很大一部分基于新技术的企业通过贸易销售退出。贸易销售是企业家和投资者的重要退出途径，同时也是收购公司的新创新和技术的潜在来源，但是我们对有助于有效实现贸易销售的因素的知识知之甚少。我们采用了一个独特的数据集来跟踪挪威基于研究的衍生产品的数量，并进行了九次贸易销售的深入案例研究。在52个访谈和其他辅助数据的基础上，我们归纳出一些建议，概述了促成成功贸易销售的三个方面-潜在的协同作用，可靠的替代方案和减少的不确定性。我们表明，这些贸易销售的促成因素不仅与合资企业有关，而且与买方的特质二元性有关，既反映了贸易销售的潜力，也反映了其可能性。因此，我们的研究通过将重要但尚未开发的贸易销售领域映射为退出模式，从而为有关企业家退出和学术创业的文献做出了贡献。

普通英语摘要潜在的协同作用和可靠的替代方案增加了以研究为基础的副产品贸易销售的潜力，但贸易销售的可能性取决于不确定性减少的管理方式。贸易交易是企业家和投资者的重要退出途径，也是收购公司的新创新和技术的潜在来源。基于研究的衍生产品通常是在大型公司发展的早期阶段获得的。我们跟踪挪威基于研究的衍生产品的数量，并深入研究九种贸易销售情况。我们关于协同潜力，可靠的替代方案以及减少不确定性的重要性的发现，对学术企业家和潜在购买者如何通过贸易销售完成退出都具有影响。由于科学研究对社会至关重要，