Non-founder human capital and the long-run growth and survival of high-tech ventures

Josh Siepel; Marc Cowling; Alex Coad

doi:10.1016/j.technovation.2016.09.001

Non-founder human capital and the long-run growth and survival of high-tech ventures

Josh Siepel^*, Marc Cowling, Alex Coad

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

40 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper considers the impact of non-founder human capital on high-tech firms' long-run growth and survival. Drawing upon threshold theory, we explore how lack of access to complementary skills at different points in the life course impacts founders' thresholds for exit. We examine these factors using a unique longitudinal dataset tracking the performance and survival of a sample of UK high-tech firms over thirteen years as the firms move from youth into maturity. We find that firms that survive but do not grow are characterized by difficulty in accessing complementary managerial skills in youth, while firms that grow but subsequently exit are characterized by shortfalls of specialized complementary skills during adolescence. Firms that grow and survive do not report skills shortfalls. We discuss the implications of these resource constraints for entrepreneurs’ decisions to persist or exit through the life course.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	34-43
Number of pages	10
Journal	Technovation
Volume	59
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2016.09.001
Publication status	Published - 2017 Jan 1
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Entrepreneurial exit
Firm aging
Growth
Long-run performance
NTBF
Non-founder human capital
Survival
Threshold theory

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Engineering(all)
Management of Technology and Innovation

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10.1016/j.technovation.2016.09.001

Cite this

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title = "Non-founder human capital and the long-run growth and survival of high-tech ventures",

abstract = "This paper considers the impact of non-founder human capital on high-tech firms' long-run growth and survival. Drawing upon threshold theory, we explore how lack of access to complementary skills at different points in the life course impacts founders' thresholds for exit. We examine these factors using a unique longitudinal dataset tracking the performance and survival of a sample of UK high-tech firms over thirteen years as the firms move from youth into maturity. We find that firms that survive but do not grow are characterized by difficulty in accessing complementary managerial skills in youth, while firms that grow but subsequently exit are characterized by shortfalls of specialized complementary skills during adolescence. Firms that grow and survive do not report skills shortfalls. We discuss the implications of these resource constraints for entrepreneurs{\textquoteright} decisions to persist or exit through the life course.",

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author = "Josh Siepel and Marc Cowling and Alex Coad",

note = "Funding Information: This work is based on research funded by NESTA and the UK Innovation Research Centre research Grant ES/J008427/1 . This work contains statistical data from ONS which is Crown Copyright. The use of the ONS statistical data in this work does not imply the endorsement of the ONS in relation to the interpretation or analysis of the statistical data. This work uses research datasets which may not exactly reproduce National Statistics aggregates. The authors are grateful for comments received from Albert Bravio-Biosca and participants at the NESTA High Growth Firm research symposium, Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference, ZEW Workshop on Innovation, UK IRC closing conference, GW October Conference, Sussex University research seminar, the editor and two anonymous reviewers. The views expressed are purely those of the authors and may not in any circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of the European Commission. The usual disclaimers apply. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 The Authors",

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doi = "10.1016/j.technovation.2016.09.001",

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N2 - This paper considers the impact of non-founder human capital on high-tech firms' long-run growth and survival. Drawing upon threshold theory, we explore how lack of access to complementary skills at different points in the life course impacts founders' thresholds for exit. We examine these factors using a unique longitudinal dataset tracking the performance and survival of a sample of UK high-tech firms over thirteen years as the firms move from youth into maturity. We find that firms that survive but do not grow are characterized by difficulty in accessing complementary managerial skills in youth, while firms that grow but subsequently exit are characterized by shortfalls of specialized complementary skills during adolescence. Firms that grow and survive do not report skills shortfalls. We discuss the implications of these resource constraints for entrepreneurs’ decisions to persist or exit through the life course.

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Non-founder human capital and the long-run growth and survival of high-tech ventures

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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