Purpose: This paper aims to evaluate the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on startups performance and the moderating effects played by several resilience-related startup characteristics during times of crisis.Design/methodology/approach: To achieve this, 94 Brazil-based startups were surveyed, and multivariate data techniques (PLS-SEM) were applied.Findings: The results show that despite the startups performance having been affected by the pandemic crisis, the response measures, when influenced by the resilience characteristics of these companies, moderated this effect. Furthermore, our findings suggest the future challenges to be faced by these organisations in the post-pandemic period.Research limitations/implications: Proposing a framework, our survey research contributes to the dynamic capabilities theory by showing that startups resilience is linked to the micro-foundations of sensing (e.g. innovation systems, resilience culture, pivoting practices, innovativeness products), seizing (e.g. leadership/focused skills, people development and selection, agility, clear vision of business process) and reconfiguring capabilities.Practical implications: Not only for theory, but this paper also contributes insights and guidelines for business practice in the face of challenges arising from times of crisis. By demonstrating the positive effect of early response measures based on resilience, our findings provide genuine managerial input that can help managers, funders and decision-makers in these companies operations against turbulent crises early on, thereby supporting the traction phase and sustaining their performance.Originality/value: Previous research has examined the effects of the COVID-19 crisis in several sectors and perspectives. However, this study is the first to empirically test and clarify how the resilience and singularities of these new business models based on innovation could react to the changes caused by the pandemic.

The job profiles of smart industries and services are based on skills for Industry 4.0 environments. Accordingly, multiple stakeholders, such as Industrial Engineering courses, companies, and governments, need to provide educational responses based on the development of these skills. Therefore, our study aims to (i) identify the major Industry 4.0 skills required by smart industries and supply chain companies; (ii) assess the knowledge level of scholars teaching Industry 4.0 in Industrial Engineering courses in Brazil; (iii) assess the skills development level of undergraduates in Brazil; (iv) propose an Industry 4.0 skills development framework for industrial engineers; and (v) contribute to the role of the universities as anchor institutions for sustainable development. Our research uses a mixed-method approach to achieve this. First, our results show that 19 technologies are predominant for Industry 4.0 skills. Second, our study reveals 17 technological, 12 digital, five computational, and 31 soft skills as the most important for Industrial Engineering undergraduate students. Third, our research also finds a gap concerning university teachers’ perceptions of Industry 4.0 skills development during undergraduate courses. Fourth, the respondents (scholars teaching in universities) point to a lack of proficiency in Industry 4.0 topics for teaching and fully transferring them. Fifth, we propose a framework based on socio-technical systems and stakeholder theory, grouping the 65 skills. Finally, we used the results to reflect on the Brazilian universities’ role as anchor institutions in their environments, co-creating with surrounding stakeholders the pathways to sustainable development from Industry 4.0.