Takers and givers: Exploring the drivers of peer support in intra-incubator networks

In this study, we therefore address the following research question: How do entrepreneurs in ESOs capture and create value through different types of peer ties, and what explains why some act as givers while others act as takers? We investigate this question in the context of an incubator. Specifically, we examine three types of direct ties related to knowledge exchange (ideas for product development, information about market trends, and management advice) and four types of referral ties through which incubatees gain potential new contacts (customers, suppliers, personnel, and investors). Our research not only explores how incubatees capture value by being the receivers (or "takers") of knowledge and referrals but also identifies which incubatees create value for their peers by acting as providers (or "givers") of these resources. To analyze this bi-directionality (Bergman and McMullen, 2022), we use social network analysis and identify takers and givers through incubatees' out-degree and in-degree network centrality. To explain heterogeneity in network positions, we build on the idea that networking actions represent effectual responses to uncertainty (Engel et al., 2017). In particular, we examine how founder-, venture-, and market-level sources of uncertainty drive incubatees' network structures and outcomes.