Entrepreneurial Teams' Human Capital: From Its Formation To Its Impact On The Performance Of Technological New Ventures

Abstract

Startups' human capital, especially founding teams' pre-entry experience, has long been studied as a determinant of their performance. However, little is known on the complementarities between the different pre-entry experiences and on the influence of these pre-entry experiences on startups' performance and on startups' acquisition of new human capital. My dissertation fills this gap with two essays. In my first essay, I show that two types of pre-entry experiences, target industry experience and experience outside the target industry, are complementary when one is shared across the founding team members and the other is embodied within team members who worked in multiple firms. In my second essay, I show that pre-entry experience makes potential hires more attractive to startups. However, startups appear more attractive to these potential hires if they can signal productivity and growth potential rather than prior experiences. I also find that gender affects the selection of the potential hires and their earnings suggesting the existence of disparities in the startup environment. By using interactions between different experiences, in and outside the target industry, and between different levels of analysis, the team and the individuals, my dissertation enriches our understanding of startups' human capital and its effects on performance and acquisition of talent.