Purpose: this thesis provides an overview of the startup eco-systems of Mainland China and Hong Kong, through the lens of an American organization called Startup Weekend. Afterwards, it narrows down potential factors behind the success of Startup Weekend Hong Kong, as well as factors that might have caused the slow growth of Startup Weekend in Mainland China. The total number of events is considered as a critical success factor because the main product of Startup Weekend is events, the more events the higher the demand for their services, thus, its applicability to the local market. After an extensive discussion of critical success factors relevant to Startup Weekend in China, the scope of the thesis has been narrowed towards the extent to which Lean Startup Methodology applies to entrepreneurship in People’s Republic of China. Here, it is important to mention that Startup Weekend is based on Lean Startup Methodology, therefore, it can be argued that its success, in any market is dependent on the applicability of this particular framework.

Design/Methodology: this thesis adopts Action Theory, the Psychological Actions and Entrepreneurial Success developed by M. Frese as a theoretical framework. Pragmatism has been chosen as paradigm for this research in order to establish methodological congruence between research design and theory. The fit between the two is important for the overall quality of the research and its subsequent conclusions. Pragmatism as a paradigm often relies on abductive reasoning that makes use of elements from both induction and deduction logic. Next, the method behind this study is qualitative multi method, hence semi-structured interviews and observations have been employed in order to collect primary data. The strategy is a single case study and it targets Startup Weekend Hong Kong and in particular the event that took place on 01 – 03 of April 2016 at Polytechnic University Hong Kong. With regards to “Time Horizon” this thesis is considered as a cross-sectional because of its focus on a particular event at a given point of time. Last but not least, secondary data has been triangulated against primary data in order to test the validity of all findings.

Findings: it appears that the startup eco-system of Hong Kong has gained momentum due to the efforts of local government and to some extent because of the wide adoption of the Lean Startup Methodology. On the other hand, Mainland China’s long history and unique culture has developed a divergent form of startup eco-system that rarely follows western methods such as Lean Startup and Design Thinking. Furthermore, empirical findings discovered that some Chinese entrepreneurs are reluctant in sharing their ideas because of concerns regarding intellectual property theft, therefore, poor product (Lean Startup Methodology) market (China and its culture) fit, becomes evident.

Research limitations: perhaps the main limitation behind this study is the lack of resources, with regards to time and funds. As a result, the scope of the thesis has been narrowed to a single case study with focus on Startup Weekend Hong Kong, instead of a more extensive research that would cover several entrepreneurship hubs in People’s Republic of China e.g. Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong.

Practical implications: the paper provides an overview of the startup eco-systems of Mainland China and Hong Kong, followed by reasons behind the success/failure of Startup Weekend China. Consequently, this study is of relevance to first of all, Startup Weekend China and second to scholars who are researching the relationship between Action Theory and entrepreneurship in China.

Originality/Value: while the academic literature on entrepreneurship in China is clearly vast, no one has evaluated it through the lens of Startup Weekend, at least to my knowledge. Hence, the relation between entrepreneurship, Action Theory, Lean Startup Methodology and China has not been addressed until now.