IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/techno/v149y2026ics0166497225001889.html

Global minds, global funds: International top management and ICO fundraising in developing economies

Author

Listed:
  • Zhu, Tingting
  • Moro, Andrea
  • Gartner, Johannes
  • Puntaier, Elmar
  • Abebe, Solomon Akele

Abstract

Drawing on the Resource-Based View (RBV), our study examines how C-level management team composition influences fundraising through Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) in the context of developing countries. Using a dataset of 458 ICOs and Probit regression analyses, we find that born-digital ventures led by internationally diverse management teams attract more capital, as investors associate diversity with superior entrepreneurial skills and valuable tacit knowledge. Moreover, having a foreign CEO with strong entrepreneurial experience further increases investor confidence by helping investors to distinguish credible, competent teams. Our findings contribute to the RBV by showing that managerial diversity and skillsets stand out during an investor's screening process. We discuss implications for policymakers, investors and local entrepreneurs in developing countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhu, Tingting & Moro, Andrea & Gartner, Johannes & Puntaier, Elmar & Abebe, Solomon Akele, 2026. "Global minds, global funds: International top management and ICO fundraising in developing economies," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:techno:v:149:y:2026:i:c:s0166497225001889
    DOI: 10.1016/j.technovation.2025.103356
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166497225001889
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.technovation.2025.103356?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tinghua Duan, 2019. "Initial Coin Offerings and Entrepreneurial Finance: The Role of Founders’ Characteristics," Post-Print hal-02512437, HAL.
    2. Efrat, Kalanit & Hughes, Paul & Nemkova, Ekaterina & Souchon, Anne L. & Sy-Changco, Joseph, 2018. "Leveraging of Dynamic export capabilities for competitive advantage and performance consequences: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 114-124.
    3. Wallmeroth, Johannes & Wirtz, Peter & Groh, Alexander Peter, 2018. "Venture Capital, Angel Financing, and Crowdfunding of Entrepreneurial Ventures: A Literature Review," Foundations and Trends(R) in Entrepreneurship, now publishers, vol. 14(1), pages 1-129, February.
    4. Daniel Erian Armanios & Charles E. Eesley & Jizhen Li & Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, 2017. "How entrepreneurs leverage institutional intermediaries in emerging economies to acquire public resources," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(7), pages 1373-1390, July.
    5. Romi Kher & Siri Terjesen & Chen Liu, 2021. "Blockchain, Bitcoin, and ICOs: a review and research agenda," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1699-1720, April.
    6. Exadaktylos, Dimitrios & Riccaboni, Massimo & Rungi, Armando, 2024. "Talents from abroad. Foreign managers and productivity in the United Kingdom," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    7. Masulis, Ronald W. & Wang, Cong & Xie, Fei, 2012. "Globalizing the boardroom—The effects of foreign directors on corporate governance and firm performance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 527-554.
    8. Elia, Gianluca & Margherita, Alessandro & Passiante, Giuseppina, 2020. "Digital entrepreneurship ecosystem: How digital technologies and collective intelligence are reshaping the entrepreneurial process," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    9. Yasemin Y. Kor & Andrea Mesko, 2013. "Dynamic managerial capabilities: Configuration and orchestration of top executives' capabilities and the firm's dominant logic," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(2), pages 233-244, February.
    10. Ciro Troise & Guido Giovando & Fauzia Jabeen & Stefano Bresciani, 2024. "Unveiling the role of entrepreneurial teams in the equity crowdfunding journey," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 63(4), pages 1517-1538, December.
    11. Aparicio, Sebastian & Audretsch, David & Urbano, David, 2021. "Why is export-oriented entrepreneurship more prevalent in some countries than others? Contextual antecedents and economic consequences," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(3).
    12. Wolfgang Drobetz & Lars Hornuf & Paul P. Momtaz & Niclas Schermann, 2025. "Token-Based Crowdfunding: Investor Choice and the Optimal Timing of Initial Coin Offerings," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 49(1), pages 232-282, January.
    13. David McKenzie, 2017. "Identifying and Spurring High-Growth Entrepreneurship: Experimental Evidence from a Business Plan Competition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(8), pages 2278-2307, August.
    14. Manning, Stephan & Vavilov, Stanislav, 2023. "Global development agenda meets local opportunities: The rise of development-focused entrepreneurship support," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(7).
    15. Giovanni Gavetti, 2005. "Cognition and Hierarchy: Rethinking the Microfoundations of Capabilities’ Development," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(6), pages 599-617, December.
    16. Robson Mekonnin Shiferaw & Zerihun Ayenew Birbirsa & Shimels Zewdie Werke, 2023. "Entrepreneurial leadership, learning organization and organizational culture relationship: a systematic literature review," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-20, December.
    17. Amrita Lahiri & Chandresh Baid & Arvin Sahaym & Greg Fisher, 2025. "When Failure Is Not Fatal: Examining Venture Resource Acquisition Following Product Development Failure," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 49(1), pages 196-231, January.
    18. Satish Nambisan, 2017. "Digital Entrepreneurship: Toward a Digital Technology Perspective of Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(6), pages 1029-1055, November.
    19. Bellavitis, Cristiano & Fisch, Christian & Wiklund, Johan, 2021. "A comprehensive review of the global development of initial coin offerings (ICOs) and their regulation," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 15(C).
    20. Elizabeth Maitland & André Sammartino, 2015. "Managerial cognition and internationalization," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 46(7), pages 733-760, September.
    21. Nurettin Ayarci & Ayse Ozden Birkan, 2020. "Determinants of ICO Investment Decision: An Exploratory Factor Analysis," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 11(5), pages 69-78, October.
    22. Johannes Wallmeroth & Alexander Groh & Peter Wirtz, 2018. "Venture Capital, Angel Financing, and Crowdfunding of Entrepreneurial Ventures : A Literature Review," Post-Print hal-02312128, HAL.
    23. Anokhin, Sergey & Schulze, William S., 2009. "Entrepreneurship, innovation, and corruption," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 465-476, September.
    24. Jonathan Levie & Erkko Autio, 2011. "Regulatory Burden, Rule of Law, and Entry of Strategic Entrepreneurs: An International Panel Study," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48, pages 1392-1419, September.
    25. Amirmahmood Amini Sedeh & Amir Pezeshkan & Rosa Caiazza, 2022. "Innovative entrepreneurship in emerging and developing economies: the effects of entrepreneurial competencies and institutional voids," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 1198-1223, August.
    26. David G. Sirmon & Michael A. Hitt, 2003. "Managing Resources: Linking Unique Resources, Management, and Wealth Creation in Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 27(4), pages 339-358, October.
    27. Muhammad Farooq Ahmad & Oskar Kowalewski & Paweł Pisany, 2023. "What determines initial coin offering success: a cross-country study," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(5), pages 622-645, July.
    28. Gartner, Johannes & Moro, Andrea, 2024. "C-level managers and born-digitals' scaling: The case of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs)," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    29. Sinéad Monaghan & Esther Tippmann & Nicole Coviello, 2020. "Born digitals: Thoughts on their internationalization and a research agenda," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(1), pages 11-22, February.
    30. Ana Lucía Alzate-Alvarado & Gabriela Ribes-Giner & Ismael Moya-Clemente, 2025. "Influence of technological capability, management teams and access to finance on sustainable entrepreneurship over time," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 1-30, December.
    31. Díaz-Fernández, M. Carmen & González-Rodríguez, M. Rosario & Simonetti, Biagio, 2015. "Top management team’s intellectual capital and firm performance," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 322-331.
    32. Franz Kellermanns & Jorge Walter & T. Russell Crook & Benedict Kemmerer & Vadake Narayanan, 2016. "The Resource‐Based View in Entrepreneurship: A Content‐Analytical Comparison of Researchers' and Entrepreneurs' Views," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(1), pages 26-48, January.
    33. Cumming, Douglas & Zhang, Yelin, 2016. "Alternative investments in emerging markets: A review and new trends," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 1-23.
    34. Cassar, Gavin & Craig, Justin, 2009. "An investigation of hindsight bias in nascent venture activity," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 149-164, March.
    35. Sabrina T Howell & Marina Niessner & David Yermack & Jiang Wei, 2020. "Initial Coin Offerings: Financing Growth with Cryptocurrency Token Sales," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(9), pages 3925-3974.
    36. Anton Miglo, 2022. "Crowdfunding and bank financing: substitutes or complements?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 1115-1142, October.
    37. Yin Liu & Huiqi Gan & Khondkar Karim, 2021. "The effectiveness of chief financial officer board membership in improving corporate investment efficiency," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 487-521, August.
    38. Lennart Ante & Philipp Sandner & Ingo Fiedler, 2018. "Blockchain-Based ICOs: Pure Hype or the Dawn of a New Era of Startup Financing?," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-19, November.
    39. David J. Teece, 2007. "Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(13), pages 1319-1350, December.
    40. Günter K Stahl & Martha L Maznevski & Andreas Voigt & Karsten Jonsen, 2010. "Unraveling the effects of cultural diversity in teams: A meta-analysis of research on multicultural work groups," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(4), pages 690-709, May.
    41. Ron Adner & Phanish Puranam & Feng Zhu, 2019. "What Is Different About Digital Strategy? From Quantitative to Qualitative Change," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 4(4), pages 253-261, December.
    42. Sandra Correia & Miguel Sousa & Elísio Brandão, 2024. "What do we know about the choices of entrepreneurs before the equity crowdfunding campaign?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 63(4), pages 1471-1501, December.
    43. Daphne W Yiu & ChungMing Lau & Garry D Bruton, 2007. "International venturing by emerging economy firms: the effects of firm capabilities, home country networks, and corporate entrepreneurship," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(4), pages 519-540, July.
    44. José Campino & Ana Brochado & Álvaro Rosa, 2021. "Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs): the importance of human capital," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 91(8), pages 1225-1262, October.
    45. Zeye Zhang & Liuyong Yang & Xuerong Peng & Zhongju Liao, 2023. "Overseas imprints reflected at home: returnee CEOs and corporate green innovation," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(4), pages 1328-1368, September.
    46. Junge, Louise Bech & Laursen, Iben Cleveland & Nielsen, Kristian Roed, 2022. "Choosing crowdfunding: Why do entrepreneurs choose to engage in crowdfunding?," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    47. Gudmundsson, Sveinn Vidar & Lechner, Christian, 2013. "Cognitive biases, organization, and entrepreneurial firm survival," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 278-294.
    48. Hsu, Wen-Tsung & Chen, Hsiang-Lan & Cheng, Chia-Yi, 2013. "Internationalization and firm performance of SMEs: The moderating effects of CEO attributes," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 1-12.
    49. Oli R. Mihalache & Justin J. J. P. Jansen & Frans A. J. Van Den Bosch & Henk W. Volberda, 2012. "Offshoring and firm innovation: The moderating role of top management team attributes," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(13), pages 1480-1498, December.
    50. Constance E. Helfat & Margaret A. Peteraf, 2015. "Managerial cognitive capabilities and the microfoundations of dynamic capabilities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(6), pages 831-850, June.
    51. José Campino & Ana Brochado & Álvaro Rosa, 2022. "Initial coin offerings (ICOs): Why do they succeed?," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 8(1), pages 1-35, December.
    52. Bo Bernhard Nielsen & Sabina Nielsen, 2013. "Top management team nationality diversity and firm performance: A multilevel study," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 373-382, March.
    53. Muneer M. Alshater & Mayank Joshipura & Rim El Khoury & Nohade Nasrallah, 2023. "Initial Coin Offerings: a Hybrid Empirical Review," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 891-908, October.
    54. Mollick, Ethan, 2014. "The dynamics of crowdfunding: An exploratory study," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 1-16.
    55. Ernest Liu & Benjamin N Roth, 2022. "Contractual Restrictions and Debt Traps," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 35(3), pages 1141-1182.
    56. Mody, Ashoka & Wang, Fang-Yi, 1997. "Explaining Industrial Growth in Coastal China: Economic Reforms . . . and What Else?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 11(2), pages 293-325, May.
    57. Matthew Zook & Michael H. Grote, 2020. "Initial coin offerings: Linking technology and financialization," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(8), pages 1560-1582, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gartner, Johannes & Moro, Andrea, 2024. "C-level managers and born-digitals' scaling: The case of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs)," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    2. Johannes Gartner & Andrea Moro, 2025. "Followers beat content: social media and the managers in initial coin offerings (ICOs)," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1229-1256, April.
    3. Paul P. Momtaz, 2024. "Decentralized finance (DeFi) markets for startups: search frictions, intermediation, and the efficiency of the ICO market," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 63(4), pages 1415-1447, December.
    4. An, Jiafu & Hou, Wenxuan & Liu, Xianda, 2022. "Historical Determinants of Fintech Development: Evidence from Initial Coin Offerings," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PB).
    5. Sun, Yan & Yang, Sung-Byung, 2024. "Are ICOs the best? A comparison of different fundraising models in blockchain-based fundraising," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    6. Johannes Fuchs & Paul P. Momtaz, 2025. "Token governance in initial coin offerings: Implications of token retention and resale restrictions for ICO success," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 64(3), pages 1321-1359, March.
    7. Francisca Duarte Camelo & Fábio Dias Duarte, 2025. "Venture capital affiliation in decentralized finance: evidence from ICOs in blockchain ecosystem," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 39(2), pages 195-223, June.
    8. Torben Klarl & Alexander S. Kritikos & Knarik Poghosyan, 2025. "Complementary funding: how location links crowdfunding and venture capital," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 65(4), pages 2639-2661, December.
    9. Xue, Jinjie & Liu, Junqi & Geng, Zizhen & Yuan, Hongping & Chao, Lei, 2023. "Why and when do paradoxical management capabilities matter to paradoxical pressure? An empirical investigation of the role of coopetition," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    10. Merín-Rodrigáñez, Joan & Dasí, Àngels & Alegre, Joaquín & Hughes, Mathew, 2025. "Dynamic managerial capabilities for digital transformation in innovative SMEs: What are the effects on new product development performance?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    11. Boukis, Achilleas, 2023. "Storytelling in initial coin offerings: Attracting investment or gaining referrals?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    12. Alessandro Bitetto & Paola Cerchiello, 2024. "Initial Coin Offerings: can ESG mitigate Underpricing?," DEM Working Papers Series 221, University of Pavia, Department of Economics and Management.
    13. Annie Lecompte, 2024. "The devil is in the details: a taxonomy of red flags of fraudulent initial coin offering projects," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 4(11), pages 1-21, November.
    14. Betty Feng, Jing & Liu, Steven Y.H. & Anne Liu, Leigh, 2023. "Cognitive antecedents of EMNEs’ dynamic capabilities: A case study of global identity at Lenovo," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    15. Muneer M. Alshater & Mayank Joshipura & Rim El Khoury & Nohade Nasrallah, 2023. "Initial Coin Offerings: a Hybrid Empirical Review," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 891-908, October.
    16. Alessia Pedrazzoli & Paola Bongini & Monica Rossolini & Silvio Vismara, 2026. "The role of decentralized and traditional entrepreneurial finance in startups financing: an analysis of ICO-funded startups," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 66(3), pages 1471-1493, March.
    17. Pierluigi Martino & Tom Vanacker & Igor Filatotchev & Cristiano Bellavitis, 2025. "(De)centralized governance and the value of platform-based new ventures: The moderating role of teams and transparency," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 64(4), pages 1763-1790, April.
    18. Kolbe, Maura & Mansouri, Sasan & Momtaz, Paul P., 2022. "Why do video pitches matter in crowdfunding?," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    19. Fraccastoro, Dr Sara & Vanninen, Dr Heini & Gabrielsson, Prof Mika, 2025. "Two decades of research on digitalization, entrepreneurship, and internationalization: What foundations do they provide for research on digital entrepreneurial internationalization?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(4).
    20. Nemchenko, E. & Pustynnikova, A. & Krakovich, V., 2025. "The impact of CEOs' characteristics on pricing at initial coin offerings," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 66(1), pages 132-157.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • G40 - Financial Economics - - Behavioral Finance - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:techno:v:149:y:2026:i:c:s0166497225001889. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01664972 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.