Decoding VCs Decision Making Behavior in Biotechnology : The Relative Importance of Established Decision Criteria and the Role of Start-Ups’ Knowledge Networks

Venture Capitalists (VCs) base their investment decision on reliable criteria to predict future performance of start-ups. However, many studies have ignored potential discrepancies in relative importance of various decision criteria that might occur when focusing on a special industry or a particular investment stage and have not considered Knowledge Networks as an independent decision criterion of VCs. Results of an adaptive conjoint-analysis show that focusing on a special industry and investment stage leads to a different relative importance ratio of the decision criteria, and Knowledge Networks was found to be an additional decision criterion