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This study aims to understand the impact of underlying theme in the communication on social media on funding received by early-stage start-ups.

The study is based on empirical testing of data of 849 start-ups and more than 130K tweets. Machine learning (ML) model has been used for text classification of 130K+ tweets. Causal mediation analysis with bootstrapping is carried out for hypothesis testing.

Tweets addressing quality-related uncertainty are a predictor of amount of funds raised. Audience response acts as a mediator between tweets focusing on relational orientation and amount of funds raised.

The authors advance signaling theory by theorizing and investigating the importance of signal content. Endogenous signal of quality directly influences the start-ups outcomes, while exogenous signal helps disseminate information and influence the success.

Entrepreneurs should put in concerted effort to reduce uncertainty about the start-ups. Value creation is a central concept for start-ups; however, communicating value should be the dominant part of social media strategy.

Computer-based language processing techniques have amplified the research focused on content. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first comprehensive study that explores underlying themes of communication of start-ups and their impact on acquiring funds.

This study aims to examine the impact of signaling through social media (SM) on funding achieved by start-ups.

This study follows a causal research design and is based on unique data set compiled from Crunchbase-Pro and Twitter. The sample size is 1,672 Indian start-ups. Heckman’s model and ordinary least squares regression is used to test the hypothesis.

Devising a thoughtful SM strategy, should be an integral part of the overall strategy of the start-ups looking out for funds. LinkedIn presence is in itself a positive signal. Active usage of Twitter and feedback from other Twitter users has a positive impact on funds raised by the start-up. Posting retweets and repetitive usage of URLs and media is not a predictor of funds raised by the start-up.

An early-stage strategy on SM adoption, especially Twitter can play an important role in attracting interest and attention of stakeholders. To capitalize SM, entrepreneurs should maintain an active SM account of the start-up.

India has emerged as one of the start-up hubs of the world. However, there is a dearth of literature on SM usage by start-ups in India. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is first of its kind and establishes the results empirically based on more than 100k tweets for a large pool of Indian start-ups.

India has one of the more progressive disability frameworks in the developing world which tends to adopt western philosophies and principles (e.g. parent participation and advocacy) which to some degree mirrors the type of service delivery in the UK. The purpose of this paper is to adopt a cross-cultural perspective to explore caregiving amongst parents caring for a child with intellectual/developmental disabilities in India.

Three focus groups were used to interview parents at Action for Autism (AFA) located in Delhi, India. The focus groups explored how disability is encountered within an Indian context.

Two main themes were identified in the parents narratives which were “making the decision to get help” and “seeing disabilities in from a new perspective”. Family members played an important role in the decision to get help and acted as a platform for mothers to explore their own concerns. Seeing disability from a new perspective was a four stage process which included initially accepting the diagnosis and their child; regaining control through parenting skills training; witnessing positive changes in their children and themselves and reaping personal benefits as a result of their involvement with AFA.

The research is very small scale and focused on parents in a specific organisation, as a consequence the results cannot be generalised.

The discourses of these individuals do provide a useful insight into the provision of services to children in India and provide a starting point for cross-cultural understanding of parenting children with disabilities.