Entrepreneurial team‐starts and teamwork: taking the investors' perspective

Abstract

Purpose

This research aims to deal with the interdisciplinary field of teamwork in entrepreneurial ventures. Its purpose is to advance the knowledge of investors' perspective with regard to high technology entrepreneurial teams. Prior studies suggest that teamwork affects new venture performance. However, only little evidence with conflicting conclusions was found in prior research regarding the importance investors lend to founders' teamwork as part of their evaluation criteria of founders' human capital.

Design/methodology/approach

The importance of the teamwork factor on new venture performance was measured by meta‐analysis of 27 previous studies which shows that founders' teamwork takes the fourth place among the 11 measured founders' human capital factors. Are investors' views coherent with these findings? The author interviewed five venture capitalists (VCs) and five business angels with investment experience in early stage high technology ventures.

Findings

Findings unexpectedly show that most interviewees did not prefer team‐starts to single‐starts new ventures and did not highly consider the teamwork factor in their investment evaluation criteria. There were no major differences between VCs and business angel investors interviewed.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this qualitative study need validation. Also investors' espoused criteria may differ from their actual in‐use criteria. Avenues for further research are suggested.

Practical implications

Practitioners may reconsider their evaluation criteria regarding new ventures while lending more weight to the team factor.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the knowledge of investors' perspective on team‐starts and teamwork in new ventures. This evaluation criterion has been under‐explored, though it affects new venture performance.

Citation

Gimmon, E. (2008), "Entrepreneurial team‐starts and teamwork: taking the investors' perspective", Team Performance Management, Vol. 14 No. 7/8, pp. 327-339. https://doi.org/10.1108/13527590810912313