A close look at the contingencies of founders’ effect on venture performance

Abstract

Studies show that founders’ industry-specific experience is beneficial to venture performance. However, we know little on the contingencies associated with such an effect. Using a panel dataset of 338 Italian high-tech ventures, we find that founders’ industry-specific experience positively affects venture performance. However, changes in the top management team (TMT) during the initial phases of the venture’s life weaken the positive relationship between founders’ industry-specific experience and venture performance, whereas founders’ functional heterogeneity does not. We further find evidence of substitution effects between founders’ human and social capital affecting venture performance, such that the effect of founders’ industry-specific experience on venture performance is attenuated when a subset of founders had common background prior to founding their venture.