Identifying and Ranking Strategies for implementing the Lean Startup Approach in Sports Start-up Companies in Iran

Ramezanizadeh Neirizi, Sadegh; Torkfar, َAhmad; Mir Hosseini, Seyed Mohammad Ali; Abdi, Kamelia

doi:10.30473/fmss.2026.74167.2658

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

¹ PhD student in Sports Management, Department of Physical Education, Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran

² Professor, Department of Physical Education, Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran

³ Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Education, Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran

https://doi.org/10.30473/fmss.2026.74167.2658

Abstract

The aim of this study is to identify and rank the strategies for implementing the lean startup approach in sports startups in Iran. The present study is applied in terms of purpose, exploratory in terms of outcome, and descriptive-survey in terms of implementation method based on an inductive-deductive approach and its strategy is a qualitative-quantitative mix. The research tool in the qualitative part was an in-depth semi-structured interview, and in the quantitative part, a researcher-made questionnaire with confirmed validity. The research population in the qualitative part was 20 professors and experts selected using a purposeful judgmental method in this field, and in the quantitative part, 317 people employed and knowledgeable in sports startups were selected randomly and stratified based on the Krejcie & Morgan table. In the qualitative part, a systematic method was used to identify the effective factors and MAXQDA 2022 software was used to implement the interviews, and in the quantitative part, Friedman tests, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling using AMOS v-29 software were used to prioritize the components and address the relationships between variables. The results showed that the implementation strategies of the lean startup approach, accompanied by 6 categories, respectively, including the new product/service development strategy with a rank of 12.10, the continuous improvement strategy with a rank of 5.30, and the organizational learning strategy with a rank of 4.20, were the first to third priorities, followed by the intra-industry strategic alignment strategy, the market orientation strategy, and the process strategy, respectively, had the highest and lowest priorities among the variables under study.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Sport Management

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Identifying and Ranking Strategies for implementing the Lean Startup Approach in Sports Start-up Companies in Iran

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References

Volume 13, Issue 1 - Serial Number 49April 2026Pages 52-72

Volume 13, Issue 1 - Serial Number 49
April 2026
Pages 52-72