Entrepreneurial Networking During Early Stages of Opportunity Exploitation: Agency of Novice and Experienced New Venture Leaders

We examine how the prior experiences of new venture leaders (NVLs) affect networking behaviors during the early stages of opportunity exploitation. We argue that lack of prior experience increases the unknowns that NVLs face when pursuing opportunity exploitation. Lack of technical experience increases technical unknowns , whereas lack of startup experience increases startup unknowns . Using a qualitative methodology, we investigate 22 NVLs and find that they differ on three dimensions: networking time orientation (short-term vs. long-term) , desired benefits (operational vs. symbolic) , and networking actions (deepening vs. broadening ). We find that novice NVLs, those who lack technical or startup experience, tend to utilize short-term orientation, engage in network-deepening actions, and seek operational benefits from their networks to mitigate technical and startup unknowns. In contrast , dual-experienced NVLs , those with technical and startup experience, are guided by long-term orientations, network-broadening actions, and a focus on symbolic benefits. We also find that technical and startup veterans exhibit a combination of those behaviors. We contribute to the literature by posing a set of three propositions depicting differences in NVL networking behaviors based on differences in startup and/or technical experiences. This study, thus, highlights the influence of NVL experience on early-stage networks.