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Board Dynamics over the Startup Life Cycle

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  • Ewens, Michael

    (California Institute of Technology)

  • Malenko, Nadya

    (Boston College)

Abstract

Venture capital (VC) backed firms face neither the governance requirements nor a major separation of ownership and control of their public peers. These differences suggest that independent directors could play a unique role on private firm boards. This paper explores the dynamics of VC-backed startup boards using new data on board member entry, exit, and individual director characteristics. We document several new facts about board size, the allocation of control, and composition dynamics. At formation, a typical board has four members and is entrepreneur-controlled. Independent directors are found on the median board after the second financing event, when control over the board becomes shared, with independent directors holding the tie-breaking vote. These patterns are consistent with independent directors playing both a mediating and advising role over the startup lifecycle, and thus representing another potential source of value-add to entrepreneurial firm performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Ewens, Michael & Malenko, Nadya, 2020. "Board Dynamics over the Startup Life Cycle," SocArXiv t96yq, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:t96yq
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/t96yq
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    Cited by:

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    2. Matthew R. Denes & Sabrina T. Howell & Filippo Mezzanotti & Xinxin Wang & Ting Xu, 2020. "Investor Tax Credits and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from U.S. States," NBER Working Papers 27751, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Banal-Estañol, Albert & Macho-Stadler, Inés & Nieto-Postigo, Jonás & Pérez-Castrillo, David, 2023. "Early individual stakeholders, first venture capital investment, and exit in the UK startup ecosystem," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    4. Zaccaria, Luana, 2023. "Are family and friends the wrong investors? Evidence from U.S. start-ups," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    5. Qiuwei Li & Wei Zhou & Hui Zhou & Jiaxuan Chen, 2021. "Do Board Characteristics Matter for Growth Firms? Evidence from China," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-9, August.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

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