  Background: Continuous experimentation (CE) has been proposed as a
data-driven approach to software product development. Several challenges with
this approach have been described in large organisations, but its application
in smaller companies with early-stage products remains largely unexplored.
Aims: The goal of this study is to understand what factors could affect the
adoption of CE in early-stage software startups. Method: We present a
descriptive multiple-case study of five startups in Finland which differ in
their utilisation of experimentation. Results: We find that practices often
mentioned as prerequisites for CE, such as iterative development and continuous
integration and delivery, were used in the case companies. CE was not widely
recognised or used as described in the literature. Only one company performed
experiments and used experimental data systematically. Conclusions: Our study
indicates that small companies may be unlikely to adopt CE unless 1) at least
some company employees have prior experience with the practice, 2) the
company's limited available resources are not exceeded by its adoption, and 3)
the practice solves a problem currently experienced by the company, or the
company perceives almost immediate benefit of adopting it. We discuss
implications for advancing CE in early-stage startups and outline directions
for future research on the approach.
