Breakthrough (high-impact) innovation often happens at startups, which require external financing ex ante, when there is only an invention with potential to become a breakthrough, and uncertainty is at its peak. Are we underfunding breakthrough inventions? Extant research has focused on...

Extant scholarship has typically assumed that VC firms prefer to pick winners. I offer an alternative perspective: that specialist VC firms can select less attractive startups—with innovative potential but in need of help—and then contribute to the startups’ innovative processes so they...

While recent literature has depicted status as an intangible asset that is firm-specific and mobile, we have a limited understanding of whether status confers advantage in a way similar to other intangible assets. This study examines the macro-structural contingencies that influence the marginal...

This dissertation analyzes where and when experienced investors add value to startups. Building on the resource-dependence theory and the relational view of the firm, I argue that the positive effect of investor experience on startup performance is stronger when the startup faces a more...

This dissertation analyzes where and when experienced investors add value to startups. Building on the resource-dependence theory and the relational view of the firm, I argue that the positive effect of investor experience on startup performance is stronger when the startup faces a more...