Th e objective of this paper is to analyze a set of technology-based enterprises connected to incubators and the University of Campinas, both located in the Metropolitan Region of Campinas, Brazil. We call these, respectively, "induced" and "spontaneous" companies. A survey was conducted directly with the companies and reveled an answer rate of 31%for our population connected to incubators and 24%for those connected with the university. We propose a discussion of fi rm's endogenous and exogenous characteristics, as well as their relations with the geographic space. Our main conclusions are as follows: 1) the space emerges as fundamental in the creation and development of technology-based endeavors, 2) both groups of companies do not diff er substantially in successful growth potential, 3) diff erences emerge with the level of integration with the university and network access, and 4) their main limitation is connected with fi nancing access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]