Speaker: Dr Anne ter Wal (Imperial College Business School)
Hosted by: University of Liverpool Management School's Strategy, International Business and Entrepreneurship Group
Open to: Management School PhD students and academic staff, with no sign up needed
Date: Wednesday 26 June 2024
Time: 12 - 1:30pm
Place: Management School - Seminar Room 4
Abstract
It is widely established that entrepreneurs’ social networks are a valuable asset in their search for external funding.
However, relatively less is known about how entrepreneurs can strategically act within those structures, that is, how they can best portray themselves in communication with others in a bid to raise their profile within their ecosystem.
In this study, we introduce the notion of showcasing strategies and assess their effect on entrepreneurial ventures’ ability to obtain a first round of funding.
Our analysis of a comprehensive dataset of London-based technology ventures combining Crunchbase, LinkedIn and X data (formerly Twitter) shows that entrepreneurs who showcase alignment by mimicking the topic choice of role-model entrepreneurs in the ecosystem, and who balance between showcasing specific details of their company with discussing more broadly relevant themes increase the likelihood of obtaining a first round of funding.
These effects are manifested above and beyond the effects of beneficial network structures, such as having networks rich in structural holes.
Our findings contribute to theories of social capital and entrepreneurship by documenting how day-to-day choices of entrepreneurs of how to present themselves can help their ventures gain visibility and legitimacy in the eyes of time- and attention-constrained investors.
Speaker
Anne ter Wal is Associate Professor of Technology and Innovation Management in the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship at Imperial College London.
His research, often in collaboration with leading multinational companies as well as start-ups, focuses on the role of networks in innovation and entrepreneurship.
Specifically, Anne studies how individuals access new knowledge and ideas through networks within and between organizations and the challenges they face when seeking to apply these ideas to the creation of novel products and services.
He leads a large-scale EU-funded research project titled "Networking for Innovation", studying how networking enables entrepreneurs and innovators to build valuable networks that help them achieve business and innovation success.
He also has an interest in the management of creativity, in particular in the role of bootlegging and other deviant forms of creativity in driving innovative outcomes.
His work has been published in leading journals in geography, innovation studies and management, including Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, Research Policy, Journal of Economic Geography, Economic Geography, Regional Studies and Industry & Innovation.
Anne currently is an Associate Editor at the Academy of Management Journal. He also serves on the editorial review board of the Administrative Science Quarterly and Research Policy.
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