IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/rug/rugwps/05-297.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

How do Early Stage High Technology Investors Select Their Investments?

Author

Listed:
  • B. CLARYSSE
  • M. KNOCKAERT
  • A. LOCKETT

Abstract

This study examines the selection behaviour of 68 European early stage high tech VCs. In particular, we examine whether or not these VCs exhibit heterogeneity in their selection behaviour. To examine these issues we employ a conjoint analysis methodology. Our results indicate that VCs exhibit substantial heterogeneity in investment selection behaviour. Employing a cluster analysis three types of investors emerge: those who focus on technology, those who focus on finance and those who focus on people. We then examine the drivers of these differences, being the sectoral focus, the sources of funds and the human capital of the investment manager.

Suggested Citation

  • B. Clarysse & M. Knockaert & A. Lockett, 2005. "How do Early Stage High Technology Investors Select Their Investments?," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 05/297, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    • Handle: RePEc:rug:rugwps:05/297
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://wps-feb.ugent.be/Papers/wp_05_297.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shepherd, Dean A. & Zacharakis, Andrew, 2002. "Venture capitalists' expertise: A call for research into decision aids and cognitive feedback," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 1-20, January.
    2. Zacharakis, Andrew L. & Meyer, G. Dale, 2000. "The potential of actuarial decision models: Can they improve the venture capital investment decision?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 323-346, July.
    3. Macmillan, Ian C. & Siegel, Robin & Narasimha, P. N. Subba, 1985. "Criteria used by venture capitalists to evaluate new venture proposals," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 119-128.
    4. Macmillan, Ian C. & Zemann, Lauriann & Subbanarasimha, P. N., 1987. "Criteria distinguishing successful from unsuccessful ventures in the venture screening process," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 2(2), pages 123-137.
    5. Sophie Manigart & Katleen Baeyens & Wim Van Hyfte, 2002. "The survival of venture capital backed companies," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(2), pages 103-124, April.
    6. Hall, John & Hofer, Charles W., 1993. "Venture capitalists' decision criteria in new venture evaluation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 25-42, January.
    7. Hellmann, Thomas, 2002. "A theory of strategic venture investing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 285-314, May.
    8. Elango, B. & Fried, Vance H. & Hisrich, Robert D. & Polonchek, Amy, 1995. "How venture capital firms differ," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 157-179, March.
    9. Riquelme, Hernan & Rickards, Tudor, 1992. "Hybrid conjoint analysis: An estimation probe in new venture decisions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 7(6), pages 505-518, November.
    10. Zacharakis, Andrew L. & Meyer, G. Dale, 1998. "A lack of insight: do venture capitalists really understand their own decision process?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 57-76, January.
    11. Hisrich, Robert D. & Jankowicz, A. D., 1990. "Intuition in venture capital decisions: An exploratory study using a new technique," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 49-62, January.
    12. Shepherd, Dean A. & Zacharakis, Andrew & Baron, Robert A., 2003. "VCs' decision processes: Evidence suggesting more experience may not always be better," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 381-401, May.
    13. Dean A. Shepherd & Andrew Zacharakis, 1999. "Conjoint analysis: A new methodological approach for researching the decision policies of venture capitalists," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(3), pages 197-217, July.
    14. Khan, Arshad M., 1987. "Assessing venture capital investments with noncompensatory behavioral decision models," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 193-205.
    15. Baum, Joel A. C. & Silverman, Brian S., 2004. "Picking winners or building them? Alliance, intellectual, and human capital as selection criteria in venture financing and performance of biotechnology startups," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 411-436, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mark J. Ahn, 2014. "Enhancing Corporate Governance in High-Growth Entrepreneurial Firms," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 11(06), pages 1-16.
    2. Christian Schröder, 2009. "Financial System and Innovations: Determinants of Early Stage Venture Capital in Europe," EIIW Discussion paper disbei167, Universitätsbibliothek Wuppertal, University Library.
    3. Sonja Bettina Keppler & Marieta Olaru & Georgiana Marin, 2015. "Fostering Entrepreneurial Investment Decision in Medical Technology Ventures in a Changing Business Environment," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 17(38), pages 390-390, February.
    4. Douglas Cumming & Grant Fleming & Armin Schwienbacher, 2008. "Financial intermediaries, ownership structure and the provision of venture capital to SMEs: evidence from Japan," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 59-92, June.
    5. Hao Zhong & Chuanren Liu & Junwei Zhong & Hui Xiong, 2018. "Which startup to invest in: a personalized portfolio strategy," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 263(1), pages 339-360, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Petty, Jeffrey S. & Gruber, Marc, 2011. ""In pursuit of the real deal": A longitudinal study of VC decision making," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 172-188, March.
    2. Woike, Jan K. & Hoffrage, Ulrich & Petty, Jeffrey S., 2015. "Picking profitable investments: The success of equal weighting in simulated venture capitalist decision making," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(8), pages 1705-1716.
    3. Wesley II, Curtis L. & Kong, Dejun Tony & Lubojacky, Connor J. & Kim Saxton, M. & Saxton, Todd, 2022. "Will the startup succeed in your eyes? Venture evaluation of resource providers during entrepreneurs' informational signaling," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(5).
    4. Dawson, Alexandra, 2011. "Private equity investment decisions in family firms: The role of human resources and agency costs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 189-199, March.
    5. Chi-Yo Huang & Hong-Ling Hsieh & Hueiling Chen, 2020. "Evaluating the Investment Projects of Spinal Medical Device Firms Using the Real Option and DANP-mV Based MCDM Methods," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-41, May.
    6. Nikolaus Franke & Marc Gruber & Dietmar Harhoff & Joachim Henkel, 2008. "Venture Capitalists’ Evaluations of Start–Up Teams: Trade–Offs, Knock–Out Criteria, and the Impact of VC Experience," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 32(3), pages 459-483, May.
    7. M. Knockaert & T. Vanacker, 2011. "The Association between Venture Capitalists’ Selection and Value Adding Behavior: Evidence from Early Stage High Tech Venture Capitalists," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 11/741, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    8. Shepherd, Dean A. & Zacharakis, Andrew, 2002. "Venture capitalists' expertise: A call for research into decision aids and cognitive feedback," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 1-20, January.
    9. Alexandra Moritz & Walter Diegel & Joern Block & Christian Fisch, 2022. "VC investors’ venture screening: the role of the decision maker’s education and experience," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 92(1), pages 27-63, January.
    10. Hoenig, Daniel & Henkel, Joachim, 2015. "Quality signals? The role of patents, alliances, and team experience in venture capital financing," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(5), pages 1049-1064.
    11. Mirjam Knockaert & Tom Vanacker, 2013. "The association between venture capitalists’ selection and value adding behavior: evidence from early stage high tech venture capitalists," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 493-509, April.
    12. Guenther, Christina & Özcan, Serden & Sassmannshausen, Dirk, 2022. "Referrals among VCs and the length of due diligence: The effect of relational embeddedness," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(5).
    13. Shepherd, Dean A. & Zacharakis, Andrew & Baron, Robert A., 2003. "VCs' decision processes: Evidence suggesting more experience may not always be better," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 381-401, May.
    14. Franke, Nikolaus & Gruber, Marc & Harhoff, Dietmar & Henkel, Joachim, 2006. "What you are is what you like--similarity biases in venture capitalists' evaluations of start-up teams," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 802-826, November.
    15. Dohyeon Kim & Su Yong Lee, 2022. "When venture capitalists are attracted by the experienced," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-18, December.
    16. Rafał Morawczyński, 2020. "Venture Capitalists’ Investment Criteria in Poland: Entrepreneurial Opportunities, Entrepreneurs, and Founding Teams," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-30, October.
    17. Junfu Zhang, 2011. "The advantage of experienced start-up founders in venture capital acquisition: evidence from serial entrepreneurs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 187-208, February.
    18. Rohit Aggarwal & David Kryscynski & Harpreet Singh, 2015. "Evaluating Venture Technical Competence in Venture Capitalist Investment Decisions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(11), pages 2685-2706, November.
    19. Ge, Dingkun & Mahoney, James M. & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2005. "New Venture Valuation by Venture Capitalists: An Integrative Approach," Working Papers 05-0124, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    20. Baeyens, K. & Manigart, S., 2006. "Who gets private equity? The role of debt capacity, growth and intangible assets," Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School Working Paper Series 2006-24, Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rug:rugwps:05/297. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Nathalie Verhaeghe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ferugbe.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.