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Size does not matter - in the virtual world. Comparing online social networking behaviour with business success of entrepreneurs

Author

Listed:
  • Peter A. Gloor
  • Stephanie Woerner
  • Detlef Schoder
  • Kai Fischbach
  • Andrea Fronzetti Colladon

Abstract

We explore what benefits network position in online business social networks like LinkedIn might confer to an aspiring entrepreneur. We compare two network attributes, size and embeddedness, and two actor attributes, location and diversity, between virtual and real-world networks. The promise of social networks like LinkedIn is that network friends enable easier access to critical resources such as legal and financial services, customers, and business partners. Our setting consists of one million public member profiles of the German business networking site XING (a German version of LinkedIn) from which we extracted the network structure of 15,000 start-up entrepreneurs from 12 large German universities. We find no positive effect of virtual network size and embeddedness, and small positive effects of location and diversity.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter A. Gloor & Stephanie Woerner & Detlef Schoder & Kai Fischbach & Andrea Fronzetti Colladon, 2018. "Size does not matter - in the virtual world. Comparing online social networking behaviour with business success of entrepreneurs," International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 10(4), pages 435-455.
    • Handle: RePEc:ids:ijeven:v:10:y:2018:i:4:p:435-455
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    Cited by:

    1. Marie Madeleine Meurer & Matthias Waldkirch & Peter Kalum Schou & Eliane Léontine Bucher & Katrin Burmeister-Lamp, 2022. "Digital affordances: how entrepreneurs access support in online communities during the COVID-19 pandemic," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 637-663, February.
    2. Oesterreich, Thuy Duong & Teuteberg, Frank & Bensberg, Frank & Buscher, Gandalf, 2019. "The controlling profession in the digital age: Understanding the impact of digitisation on the controller's job roles, skills and competences," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    3. P. A. Gloor & A. Fronzetti Colladon & F. Grippa & B. M. Hadley & S. Woerner, 2021. "The impact of social media presence and board member composition on new venture success: Evidences from VC-backed U.S. startups," Papers 2105.10237, arXiv.org.
    4. Gloor, Peter A. & Fronzetti Colladon, Andrea & Grippa, Francesca & Hadley, Beth Marie & Woerner, Stephanie, 2020. "The impact of social media presence and board member composition on new venture success: Evidences from VC-backed U.S. startups," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).

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