Exploring the Key Components of Soft Skills Among Start-Up Founders (Case Study: Start-Ups Based in Mazandaran Science and Technology Park)

Hosseini, Aboalhassan; Movaghar, Morteza; Abbasi Esfahani, Fatemeh; Babaei, Fatemeh

doi:10.22034/jtd.2025.2050041.1984

Exploring the Key Components of Soft Skills Among Start-Up Founders (Case Study: Start-Ups Based in Mazandaran Science and Technology Park)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

aboalhassan hosseini ¹

morteza movaghar ¹

Fatemeh Abbasi Esfahani ²

fatemeh babaei ³

¹ faculty member of university of mazandaran

² student of Department of Business Management, Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences, University of Mazandaran

³ Department of Psychology, Khazar Institute of Higher Education

10.22034/jtd.2025.2050041.1984

Abstract

Soft skills complement hard skills and enable individuals to effectively and efficiently apply their technical knowledge and expertise to achieve organizational goals. This study is applied in its aim and follows a descriptive-exploratory approach. Data were collected using a combination of library studies and fieldwork, including semi-structured interviews and structured questionnaires. The research was cross-sectional and utilized a mixed-methods approach (qualitative-quantitative).In the qualitative phase, soft skills were identified through a review of scientific literature and interviews with start-up founders. These individuals were selected based on criteria such as at least three years of activity, having a marketable product, and compliance with tax regulations. In the quantitative phase, the identified soft skill dimensions were analyzed using the Stepwise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) technique. This research identified 37 key soft skills through a review of scientific sources and interviews with managers and founders of start-ups based in Mazandaran Science and Technology Park. These skills included communication, negotiation, trust-building, managerial skills, risk management, self-management, teamwork, social skills, and problem-solving. The normalized weights of these skills ranged from 0.0172 to 0.0177, indicating their high importance and ineffective performance. The findings demonstrate that a combination of personal skills, such as analytical thinking, critical thinking, self-management, problem-solving, creativity, and innovation, along with organizational skills, including decision-making and uncertainty management, are considered highly important by the start-up founders studied.

Keywords

Soft Skills

Start-Up

Start-Up Founders

Human Resources

Subjects

technological capability

Aghajani, Hassanali, Shariati, Zeinab, & Hosseini, Abolhassan. (2020). Explaining the evolutionary trend and key components of electronic business models in Iranian startups. Improvement Management, 14(1), 127-147.

Ahmadi Dagestani, Alireza. (2023). Examining the Importance and Role of Self-Management Concept in Improving the Performance of Managers in Educational Organizations. Fifth National Conference on Professional Research in Psychology and Counseling with a Teacher's Perspective. https://civilica.com/doc/1760609/

Almeida, F., & Morais, J. (2023). Strategies for developing soft skills among higher engineering courses. Journal of Education, 203(1), 103-112. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220574211016417

Alvani, Seyed Mehdi, Hamidizadeh, Ali, & Boostanirad, Mina. (2020). What are the Components of Human Resource Soft Skills? (A Systematic Review). Skills Development, 9(33), 25–50. https://sid.ir/paper/953762/fa

André Lucas Novaes, (2024), Development of Soft Skills in Entrepreneurship Education: an Approach Based on Experiential Learning Theory, Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental, DOI:10.24857/rgsa.v18n10-207

Antonovica, A., de Esteban Curiel, J., & Herráez, B. R. (2023). Factors that determine the degree of fulfilment of expectations for entrepreneurs from the business incubator programmes. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 19(1), 261-291. DOI:10.1007/s11365-022-00818-1.

Arráiz, I., Beuermann, D., Frese, M., Maffioli, A., Verch, D., & Ubfal, D. (2020). The Impact of Soft-Skills Training for Entrepreneurs in Jamaica. Inter-American Development Bank Working Paper, 10399. DOI:10.2139/ssrn.3374406.

Asgari, T., Daneshvar, A., Chobar, A. P., Ebrahimi, M., & Abrahamyan, S. (2022). Identifying key success factors for startups With sentiment analysis using text data mining. International Journal of Engineering Business Management, 14. DOI:10.1177/18479790221131612.

Avença, I., Domingues, L., & Carvalho, H. (2023). Project Managers soft skills influence in knowledge sharing. Procedia Computer Science, 219, 1705-1712.‏ DOI:10.1016/j.procs.2023.01.464.

Bak, O., Jordan, C., & Midgley, J. (2019). The adoption of soft skills in supply chain and understanding their current role in supply chain management skills agenda: A UK perspective. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 26(3), 1063-1079. DOI:10.1108/BIJ-05-2018-0118.

Balcar, J., Šimek, M., & Filipová, L. (2018). Soft skills of Czech graduates. Review of Economic Perspectives, 18(1), 45-60.‏ DOI:10.2478/revecp-2018-0003.

Bartel, J. (2018). Teaching soft skills for employability. TESL Canada Journal, 35(1), 78-92.‏ https://doi.org/10.18806/tesl.v35i1.1285.

Bashir, M., Naqshbandi, M. M., & Yousaf, A. (2023). Impact of managerial skills and ties on business model innovation: the role of exploitative and explorative learning. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 44(2), 240-259. DOI:10.1108/LODJ-10-2021-0441.

Basir, N. M., Zubairi, Y. Z., Jani, R., & Wahab, D. A. (2022). Soft skills and graduate employability: Evidence from Malaysian tracer study. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 30(4). DOI: https://doi.org/10.47836/pjssh.30.4.26.

Batista, M. P., & Romani-Dias, M. (2022). AACSB international accreditation as a catalyst for soft skills in business schools. Journal of Education for Business, 97(4), 213-219.‏ DOI:10.1080/08832323.2021.1924105.

Calanca, F., Sayfullina, L., Minkus, L., Wagner, C., & Malmi, E. (2019). Responsible team players wanted: an analysis of soft skill requirements in job advertisements. EPJ Data Science, 8(1), 1-20.‏ DOI:10.1140/epjds/s13688-019-0190-z.

Chioda, L., Contreras-Loya, D., Gertler, P., & Carney, D. (2021). Making entrepreneurs: Returns to training youth in hard versus soft business skills (No. w28845). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://www.nber.org/papers/w28845.

Choudary, D. V., & Ponnuru, M. (2015). The importance of soft-skills training for MBA students and managers. Abhinav International Monthly Refereed Journal of Research in, 4(11), 6-14.

Cockayne, D. (2019). What is a startup firm? A methodological and epistemological investigation into research objects in economic geography. Geoforum, 107, 77-87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2019.10.009.

Darvishi, Maryam, & Alasvand Bakhtiarpour, Parvaneh. (2023). Investigating key factors influencing startup success using a meta-synthesis approach. Technology Growth Quarterly, 20(77).

Embroker Team. (2023, January 2). 106 Must-Know Startup Statistics for 2023. Embroker. https://www.embroker.com/blog/startup-statistics/.

Espina-Romero, L. C., Franco, S. L. A., Conde, H. O. D., Guerrero-Alcedo, J. M., Parra, D. E. R., & Ramírez, J. C. R. (2023). Soft skills in personnel training: Report of publications in scopus, topics explored and future research agenda. Heliyon, 9(4).‏ DOI:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15468.

Fernando Almeida, Vladan Devedzic.(2011), The Relevance of Soft Skills for Entrepreneurs. J. East Eur. Manag. Stud., 27(1), 157. https://doi.org/10.5771/0949-6181-2022-1-157

Gejdoš, P., Simanová, Ľ., Čierna, H., Sujová, E., & Schmidtová, J. (2021). Integration of Soft Skills of Graduates of the Technical University in Zvolen and Their Applicability in Slovak Business Environment. The Case Study. Central European Business Review, 10(5), 21. DOI:10.18267/j.cebr.268.

Ghorbani, A. (2023). A review of successful construction project managers’ competencies and leadership profile. Journal of Rehabilitation in Civil Engineering, 11(1), 76-95. DOI: 10.22075/JRCE.2022.24638.1560

Ginting, H., Mahiranissa, A., Bekti, R., & Febriansyah, H. (2020). The effect of outing Team Building training on soft skills among MBA students. The International Journal of Management Education, 18(3), 100423. DOI:10.1016/j.ijme.2020.100423.

Gruzdev, M. V., Kuznetsova, I. V., Tarkhanova, I. Y., & Kazakova, E. I. (2018). University Graduates' Soft Skills: The Employers' Opinion. European journal of contemporary education, 7(4), 690-698. DOI:10.13187/ejced.2018.4.690.

Habiburrahman, Prasetyo, A., Raharjo, T. W., Rinawati, H. S., Trisnani, Eko, B. R., ... & Heidler, P. (2022). Determination of critical factors for success in business incubators and startups in East Java. Sustainability, 14(21), 14243. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Integrating-Soft-Skills-Assessment-Through-Soft-for-Rashidi-Adabi/2ba60b7f18a1465f571128b46f7ce560c8cbc593 .

Hatthakijphong, P., & Ting, H. I. (2019). Prioritizing successful entrepreneurial skills: An emphasis on the perspectives of entrepreneurs versus aspiring entrepreneurs. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 34, 100603. DOI: 10.1016/j.tsc.2019.100603.

Holmberg-Wright, K., & Hribar, T. (2016). Soft Skills – The Missing Piece for Entrepreneurs to Grow a Business. American Journal of Management, Vol. 16(1). https://articlegateway.com/index.php/AJM/article/view/1885 .

Holmberg-Wright, K., & Hribar, T. (2016). Soft Skills – The Missing Piece for Entrepreneurs to Grow a Business. American Journal of Management, 16(1). Retrieved from https://articlegateway.com/index.php/AJM/article/view/1885

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/296704935_THE_IMPORTANCE_OF_SOFTSKILLS_TRAINING_FOR_MBA_STUDENTS_AND_MANAGERS .

https://karboom.io/mag/articles/%D9%85%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AA-D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B7%DB%8C-%DA%86%DB%8C%D8%B3%D8%AA?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Hurrell, S. A. (2016). Rethinking the soft skills deficit blame game: Employers, skills withdrawal and the reporting of soft skills gaps. Human relations, 69(3), 605-628. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726715591636.

Jabbari, Mohammadreza, Derani, Kamal, & Rahiminejad, Abbas. (2019). Explaining Leadership Styles and Communication Skills of Managers. Journal of Improvement and Transformation Management Studies, 28(94), 109–136. https://doi.org/10.22054/jmsd.2020.43814.3356

Joseph, G., Aboobaker, N., & KA, Z. (2023). Entrepreneurial cognition and premature scaling of startups: a qualitative analysis of determinants of start-up failures. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 15(1), 96-112. DOI:10.1108/JEEE-11-2020-0412.

Kačamakovic, M. K., & Lokaj, A. S. (2021). Requirements of organization for soft skills as an influencing factor of their success. leadership. DOI:10.36941/ajis-2021-0025.

Kamenova, D., & Arkhypova, S. (2017). “SOFT” SKILLS DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS THROUGH EDUCATIONAL-TRAINING ENTERPRISES. Series "Pedagogical Sciences”. https://ped-ejournal.cdu.edu.ua/article/view/1198 .

Karami Nejad, Neda, Ghasemi Nejad, Alireza, & Motamed, Hamidreza. (2020). Providing a Professional Development Model for Faculty Members Based on Soft Skills Components. Teacher Professional Development, 5(2), 1–23. https://sid.ir/paper/385329/fa

Kersuliene, V., Zavadskas, E. K., & Turskis, Z. (2010).
Selection of rational dispute resolution method by applying new step‐wise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA).Journal of Business Economics and Management, 11(2), 243–258.
https://doi.org/10.3846/jbem.2010.12

Khaleghkhah, Ali, & Najafi, Habibeh. (2018). Identifying the Components of Soft Skills of Educational Managers Using a Mixed Exploratory Method (Designing a Measurement Tool). A New Approach in Educational Management, 9(1), 25–43. https://sid.ir/paper/168712/fa

Khanifer, Hossein, & Javan Bakht, Alireza. (2018). Soft Skills for Vocational and Technical Graduates. Skills Development, 6(24), 1–7. https://sid.ir/paper/409861/fa

Kovács, I., & Zarándné, K. V. (2022). Digital marketing employability skills in job advertisements-must-have soft skills for entry-level workers: a content analysis. Economics & Sociology, 15(1), 178-192. DOI:10.14254/2071-789X.2022/15-1/11.

Kucel, A. and Vilalta-Bufi, M. (2016), "Entrepreneurial skills and wage employment", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 37 No. 3, pp. 556-588. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-01-2015-0021

Lamri, J., & Lubart, T. (2023). Reconciling hard skills and soft skills in a common framework: the generic skills component approach. Journal of Intelligence, 11(6), 107. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence11060107.

Lok, Bee-Lan; Cheng, Ming-Yu; Choong, Chee-Keong.(2021), The Relationship between Soft Skills Training and Development, Human Resource Outcome and Firm Performance International Journal of Business and Society; Sarawak Vol. 22, Iss. 1: 382-402. DOI:10.33736/ijbs.3184.2021

Magano, J., Silva, C., Figueiredo, C., Vitória, A., Nogueira, T., & Pimenta Dinis, M. A. (2020). Generation Z: Fitting project management soft skills competencies—A mixed-method approach. Education sciences, 10(7), 187.‏ https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci10070187.

Mangiza, P., & Brown, I. (2020, September). Requisite skills profile of software development professionals for startups. In Conference of the South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists 2020 (pp. 102-109). DOI:10.1145/3410886.3410904.

Marhraoui, M. A. (2023). Digital skills for project managers: A systematic literature Review. Procedia Computer Science, 219, 1591-1598.‏ DOI:10.1016/j.procs.2023.01.451.

Masoumeh Ayeneh, & Bijan Rezaei. (2024). Identifying success factors of technology-based startups in addressing challenges of Iran’s fintech industry. Economic and Business Research Journal, 15(34), 35-56. magiran.com/p2829272

Matturro, G., Solari, M., Buffa, A., & Febbles, D. (2020). Technical knowledge and soft skills in the founding teams of software startups. In CIbSE (pp. 476-489). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344524012_Technical_knowledge_and_soft_skills_in_the_founding_teams_of_software_startups

Minaev, Artem. ( 2022, December 26). Startup Statistics (2023): 35 Facts and Trends You Must Know. Firstsiteguide. https://firstsiteguide.com/startup-stats.

Mohammadzadeh Roshti, Ziba, Ghiyasi, Mitra, & Tahmasbi Limouni, Safieh. (2020). Explaining the Knowledge Management Components of Startups in the Field of Information Science. Library and Information Science, 23(3), 91–118. https://doi.org/10.30481/LIS.2020.219212.1678

Mohtashami, Mitra. (2022). Intellectual Property System and Legal Risk Management for Startups. Second National Conference of the Iranian Innovation and Technology Parks Association, Rasht. https://civilica.com/doc/1757608/

Nielsen, M. S., & Klyver, K. (2020). Meeting entrepreneurs’ expectations: the importance of social skills in strong relationships. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 32(9-10), 737-756. DOI:10.1080/08985626.2020.1757159.

Nur Atikah Aliah Md Akhir, Sabrinah Adam, & Nursyazwani Mohd Fuzi. (2023). Challenges Towards Performance Of Start-Up Companies During Covid-19: The Case Of Johor Start-Ups. Advanced International Journal of Business,Entrepreneurship and SMEs, 5 (15),01-06. DOI: 10.35631/AIJBES.515001.

Parlamis, J., & Monnot, M. J. (2019). Getting to the CORE: Putting an end to the term “soft skills”. Journal of Management Inquiry, 28(2), 225-227. DOI:10.1177/1056492618818023.

Rahnamaei Roodposhti, Fereidoon, & Khojasteh, Alireza. (2019). Risk Management in Entrepreneurship and Startups: A Necessity for Economic Growth in Iran. Fifth Islamic Finance Conference, Tehran. https://civilica.com/doc/1294479

Rashidi Abbas, F. A. A. K., & Azmie, I. A. G. (2013). Integrating soft skills assessment through soft skills workshop program for engineering students at University of Pahang: an analysis. International Journal of Research In Social Sciences, 2(1), 2307-227X.

Riyanti, B. P. D., Sandroto, C. W., & DW, M. T. W. (2017). Soft skill competencies, hard skill competencies, and intention to become enterpreneur of vocational graduates. International research journal of business studies, 9(2). DOI:10.21632/irjbs.9.2.119-132.

Sadq, Z. M. (2019). The role of leadership soft skills in promoting the learning entrepreneurship. Journal of process management and new technologies, 7(1). DOI:10.5937/jouproman7-20122

Santisteban, J.,Mauricio, D. and Cachay, O. (2021) ‘Critical success factors for technology-based startups’, Int. J. Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Vol. 42, No. 4, pp.397–421

Sarafraz, Amirhossein, Hosseini Shakib, Mehrdad, & Montazerlotf, Mitra. (2025). Identification and ranking of key factors affecting the sustainability of ICT startups. Innovation Management and Operational Strategies, (), -. doi: 10.22105/imos.2025.498078.1425.

Sarom Tem, Ariyabhorn Kuroda, Keow Ngang Tang,.(2020), The Importance of Soft Skills Development to Enhance Entrepreneurial Capacity, International Educational Research,  Vol 3 No 3, DOI: https://doi.org/10.30560/ier.v3n3p1

Schislyaeva, E. R., & Saychenko, O. A. (2022). Labor market soft skills in the context of digitalization of the economy. Social Sciences, 11(3), 91. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci11030091.

Schultz, C. M. (2022). Soft employability skills obtained from a nongovernmental organisation's labour market intervention. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 48(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v48i0.1912.

Shahraki Moghaddam, Shayan, & Farsijani, Hassan. (2022). Identifying Factors Influencing the Growth and Development of Startups. Quarterly Journal of New Research Approaches in Management and Accounting, 6(84), 2234–2249. https://www.magiran.com/p2446185

Shirmohammadi, Yazdan, Nikmanesh, Shamseddin, & Hassannejad, Faezeh. (2020). The Impact of Product and Marketing Innovation on the Internationalization of Startups. International Business Management, 3(2), 81–101. https://sid.ir/paper/358770/fa

Siavoshi, M., Zarghamifard, M., & SHARIFI, M.. (2022). Identifying and Prioritizing Personal Branding Indicators of Specialist Physicians using multi-criteria decision-making technique (SWARA). JOURNAL OF HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT (JOURNAL OF HEALTH SYSTEM), 13(1 (SERIAL 43) ), 85-97. SID. https://sid.ir/paper/1013191/

Singh Dubey, R., Paul, J., & Tewari, V. (2022). The soft skills gap: a bottleneck in the talent supply in emerging economies. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 33(13), 2630-2661. DOI:10.1080/09585192.2020.1871399.

Skawińska, E., & Zalewski, R. I. (2020). Success Factors of Startups in the EU—A Comparative Study. Sustainability, 12(19), 8200. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12198200

Szathmári E, Varga Z, Molnár A, Németh G,Szabó ZP and Kiss OE (2024) Why do startups fail? A core competency deficit model. Front. Psychol. 15:1299135. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1299135

Troilo, F. (2022). From the CEO perspective: Critical competencies for effective performance. Ciencias administrativas, (20), 6-6.‏ DOI:10.24215/23143738e104.

Tem, S., Kuroda, A., & Tang, K.N. (2020). The Importance of Soft Skills Development to Enhance Entrepreneurial Capacity. International Economic Review, 3, 1.

Truong, H. T., Laura, R. S., & Shaw, K. (2016). New insights for soft skills development in Vietnamese business schools: Defining essential soft skills for maximizing graduates’ career success. International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering, 10(6), 1857-1863. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/New-Insights-for-Soft-Skills-Development-in-Soft-Truong-Laura

Tsirkas, K., Chytiri, A. P., & Bouranta, N. (2020). The gap in soft skills perceptions: A dyadic analysis. Education+ Training, 62(4), 357-377. DOI:10.1108/ET-03-2019-0060

Turrado, G. A.(2021), Soft skills Evaluation in the Educational System, Industry overview and Business Plan of the start-up Softeo.

Van Heerden, A., Jelodar, M. B., Chawynski, G., & Ellison, S. (2023). A study of the soft skills possessed and required in the construction sector. Buildings, 13(2), 522. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13020522.

Valipour, A. and Jamali, M. (2021). HYBRID SWARA-COPRAS METHOD FOR CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTORS SELECTION: SOUTH ZAGROS COMPANY CASE STUDY. Journal of Structural and Construction Engineering, 8(Special Issue 1), 251-274. doi: 10.22065/jsce.2020.202125.1951

Wiyono, B. B., & Wu, H. H. (2022). Investigating the structural effect of achievement motivation and achievement on leadership and entrepreneurial spirit of students in higher education. Administrative Sciences, 12(3), 99. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci12030099 .

Yi-Fen Chen & Chia-Wen Tsai & Hsiu-Jung Liu, 2019. "Applying the AHP Model to Explore Key Success Factors for High-Tech Startups Entering International Markets," International Journal of E-Adoption (IJEA), IGI Global, vol. 11(1), pages 45-63, January.

Zavadskas, E. K., Turskis, Z., & Kersuliene, V. (2015).
Application of a new hybrid multiple criteria decision-making method in the evaluation of human resources by incorporating the SWARA and ARAS methods.
Economic Computation and Economic Cybernetics Studies and Research, 49(4), 103–118.

Ziakis, C., Vlachopoulou, M., & Petridis, K. (2022). Start-up ecosystem (StUpEco): A conceptual framework and empirical research. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 8(1), 35. https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc8010035.

Zisser, M. R., Johnson, S. L., Freeman, M. A., & Staudenmaier, P. J. (2019). The relationship between entrepreneurial intent, gender and personality. Gender in Management, 34 (8), 665-684. doi: 10.1108/GM-08-2018-0105.