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Is the VC Partnership Greater than the Sum of its Partners?

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  • Michael Ewens
  • Matthew Rhodes-Kropf

Abstract

Venture capital firms’ ability to repeatedly make top performing investments suggests the importance of some aspect of organizational or human capital. However, it is an unanswered question as to what extent the important attributes of performance are a part of the firm’s organizational capital or embodied in the human capital of the people inside the firm. We examine the performance at the partner-investment level to determine the extent of persistence in individual partners’ ability to IPO, achieve outsized exits or fail, and to what extent that performance is attributable to the firm or the partner. Shedding light on the sources of performance in venture capital firms will help us make progress on a fundamental question in economics as to whether a firm is more than the sum of its parts.

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  • Michael Ewens & Matthew Rhodes-Kropf, "undated". "Is the VC Partnership Greater than the Sum of its Partners?," GSIA Working Papers 2012-E36, Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business.
    • Handle: RePEc:cmu:gsiawp:-1518590595
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    Cited by:

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    2. Michael Ewens & Charles M. Jones & Matthew Rhodes-Kropf, 2013. "The Price of Diversifiable Risk in Venture Capital and Private Equity," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(8), pages 1854-1889.
    3. Josh Lerner & Ramana Nanda, 2020. "Venture Capital's Role in Financing Innovation: What We Know and How Much We Still Need to Learn," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(3), pages 237-261, Summer.
    4. Bhanot, Karan & Kadapakkam, Palani-Rajan, 2022. "Pay for performance, partnership success, and the internal organization of venture capital firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    5. Nanda, Ramana & Samila, Sampsa & Sorenson, Olav, 2020. "The persistent effect of initial success: Evidence from venture capital," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(1), pages 231-248.
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    7. Zhang, Yuejia & Mayes, David Geoffrey, 2018. "The performance of governmental venture capital firms: A life cycle perspective and evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 162-185.
    8. Cho, Chanho & Halford, Joseph T. & Hsu, Scott & Ng, Lilian, 2016. "Do managers matter for corporate innovation?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 206-229.
    9. Ewens, Michael & Townsend, Richard R., 2020. "Are early stage investors biased against women?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(3), pages 653-677.
    10. Korteweg, Arthur & Sorensen, Morten, 2017. "Skill and luck in private equity performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(3), pages 535-562.
    11. Kaminski, Jermain & Hopp, Christian & Tykvová, Tereza, 2019. "New technology assessment in entrepreneurial financing – Does crowdfunding predict venture capital investments?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 287-302.
    12. Chemmanur, Thomas J. & Hull, Tyler J. & Krishnan, Karthik, 2016. "Do local and international venture capitalists play well together? The complementarity of local and international venture capitalists," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 573-594.
    13. Giovannetti, Andrea & Pipic, Denis, 2023. "Shaking hands with common foes: Clique premium and information diffusion in private equity networks," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    14. Humphery-Jenner, Mark & Suchard, Jo-Ann, 2013. "Foreign VCs and venture success: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 16-35.
    15. Chircop, Justin & Johan, Sofia & Tarsalewska, Monika, 2020. "Does religiosity influence venture capital investment decisions?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    16. Da Rin, Marco, 2016. "Financing Growth through Venture Capital in Asia and the Pacific," Other publications TiSEM 9fb91a28-6b54-41ce-a01d-9, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    17. Sannajust, Aurélie & Groh, Alexander Peter, 2020. "There's no need to be a pioneer in emerging private equity markets," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    18. Ivashina, Victoria & Lerner, Josh, 2019. "Pay now or pay later? The economics within the private equity partnership," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(1), pages 61-87.
    19. Hagendorff, Jens & Saunders, Anthony & Steffen, Sascha & Vallascas, Francesco, 2021. "The wolves of Wall Street? Managerial attributes and bank risk," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    20. Chen, Jun & Hshieh, Shenje & Zhang, Feng, 2021. "The role of high-skilled foreign labor in startup performance: Evidence from two natural experiments," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(1), pages 430-452.
    21. Bushman, Robert & Gao, Janet & Martin, Xiumin & Pacelli, Joseph, 2021. "The influence of loan officers on loan contract design and performance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2).
    22. Bennedsen, Morten & Tsoutsoura, Margarita & Wolfenzon, Daniel, 2019. "Drivers of effort: Evidence from employee absenteeism," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(3), pages 658-684.
    23. Dong, Feng & Doukas, John A., 2021. "Managerial ability premium factor and fund performance," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

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