THE LESSON LEARNT FROM Elfring & Hulsink, 2003. Networks in entrepreneurship: The case of high-technology firms

In this paper, the authors, using the theory of contingency, argued how strong and weak ties influenced the performance of high-tech start-ups in releasing incremental and radical innovations. They demonstrated that although strong and weak ties are both beneficial to venture businesses in terms of opportunity recognition, resource assembling, and legitimacy; their value is different when facing with different innovation types.
Thus, they proposed that a mix of strong and weal ties are crucial to the high-tech start-ups.
Towards discovery of opportunity, they demonstrated that networks could provide not only source of information bur help entrepreneurs evaluate the opportunities and potential markets. Here, the weak ties could provide more new and broad information whereas strong ties could be of importance of helping evaluating opportunities in greater detail.
Towards securing resources, strong ties provided privileged rights to help gather venture capital and work-forces. Also at the circumstance of legitimacy, the strong ties contributed in convincing potential market and existing industry to believe the innovative products.
In the end, the authors proposed that

1. For pursuing incremental innovations, weak ties are more likely to discover opportunities.
2. For pursuing radical innovations, the mix of strong and weak ties are more likely to discover opportunities.
3. Strong ties enable trusted feedback and exchange of tacit knowledge on the nature of the opportunity.
4. For pursuing incremental and radical innovations, strong ties are more likely to help secure resources.
5. Strong ties enable the exchange of tacit knowledge in the development of resources.
6. For pursuing incremental innovations, strong ties help ventures gain more legitimacy.
7. For pursuing radical innovations, the mix of strong and weak ties are more likely to gain legitimacy (cognitive ones and socio-political ones).
8. Weak ties are more important for radical innovations, as endorsement by outsiders is important in gaining legitimacy.