FOUNDER’S HUMAN CAPITAL, EXTERNAL INVESTMENT, THE SURVIVAL OF HIGH TECHNOLOGY VENTURES Eli Gimmon 12210 Telephone 00 972 52 3966252 Email egimmon@megiddo.co.il Jonathan Levie* G1 1XH Telephone 00 44 141 548 3502 Email ABSTRACT The effect of founder characteristics in attracting external investment and enhancing survival of new high technology ventures is explored using human capital theory and signalling theory. We test the effect of founder characteristics on external investment in and survival of new high-technology ventures by tracking a random sample of 193 technology start-ups, all participants in the Israeli Technology Incubator Program. and academic status attracted external Founder’s business management expertise investment, expertise did not. but founder’s general technological Founder’s business management expertise and general technological expertise positively affected venture survival, Possible implications for entrepreneurs, but founder’s academic status did not. investors, policy and further research are discussed. Keywords: Technology entrepreneurship; human capital; investors; signals * Corresponding author
FOUNDER’S HUMAN CAPITAL, EXTERNAL INVESTMENT, THE SURVIVAL OF HIGH TECHNOLOGY VENTURES Eli Gimmon 12210 Telephone 00 972 52 3966252 Email egimmon@megiddo.co.il Jonathan Levie* G1 1XH Telephone 00 44 141 548 3502 Email ABSTRACT The effect of founder characteristics in attracting external investment and enhancing survival of new high technology ventures is explored using human capital theory and signalling theory. We test the effect of founder characteristics on external investment in and survival of new high-technology ventures by tracking a random sample of 193 start-ups, all participants in the Israeli Technology Incubator Program. Founder’s business management expertise and academic status attracted external investment, but founder’s general technological expertise did not. Founder’s business management expertise and general technological expertise positively affected venture survival, but founder’s academic status did not. Possible implications for entrepreneurs, investors, policy and further research are discussed. Keywords: Technology entrepreneurship; human capital; investors; signals * Corresponding author technology
Founder's_Human_Capital.docx