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Networking Frictions in Venture Capital, and the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurship

Author

Listed:
  • Sabrina T. Howell

    (New York University)

  • Ramana Nanda

    (Harvard Business School, Entrepreneurial Management Unit)

Abstract

Exploiting random variation in the number of venture capitalist (VC) judges assigned to panels at Harvard Business School’s New Venture Competition (NVC) between 2000 and 2015, we find that exposure to more VC judges increases male participants’ chances of founding a VC-backed startup after HBS much more than this exposure increases female participants’ chances. A survey suggests this is in part because male participants more often proactively reach out to VC judges after the NVC. Our results suggest that networking frictions are an important reason men benefit more than women from exposure to VCs. Such frictions can help explain part of the gender gap in entrepreneurship, and also have implications for how to design networking opportunities to facilitate financing of the best (rather than just the best networked) ideas.

Suggested Citation

  • Sabrina T. Howell & Ramana Nanda, 2019. "Networking Frictions in Venture Capital, and the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurship," Harvard Business School Working Papers 19-105, Harvard Business School, revised Oct 2019.
    • Handle: RePEc:hbs:wpaper:19-105
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    Cited by:

    1. Thomas Hellmann & Ilona Mostipan & Nir Vulkan, 2019. "Be Careful What You Ask For: Fundraising Strategies in Equity Crowdfunding," NBER Working Papers 26275, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Ye Zhang, 2020. "Discrimination in the Venture Capital Industry: Evidence from Field Experiments," Papers 2010.16084, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2022.
    3. Hao, Xuejing & Hu, Feng & Li, Zhu, 2024. "Entrepreneur-investor gender match effects in startup funding: Evidence from an entrepreneurial-themed reality TV show in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PA), pages 811-832.
    4. Takahashi, Hidenori & Honjo, Yuji & Kato, Masatoshi, 2024. "The gender gap in the first deal: Equity split among founding teams," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    5. Bhairab Talukdar, 2025. "How psychological determinants influence entrepreneurial success behavior? Evidence from migrant entrepreneurship," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-19, December.
    6. Bhairab Talukdar & Jitu Saikia, 2025. "How sustainability is driven in entrepreneurship? Evidence from apiculture practices," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-19, December.
    7. Paige Clayton, 2024. "Different outcomes for different founders? Local organizational sponsorship and entrepreneurial finance," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 23-62, January.
    8. Pavlova, Elitsa & Gvetadze, Salome, 2023. "Female access to finance: A survey of literature," EIF Working Paper Series 2022/87, European Investment Fund (EIF).
    9. Hao, Haixia & Dong, Jianwei & Wang, Han, 2024. "Helping women rise: Foreign venture capital and female entrepreneurship," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    10. Ann L. Owen & Judit Temesvary & Andrew Wei, 2024. "Gender and Professional Networks on Bank Boards," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 66(3), pages 227-262, December.
    11. McSweeney, Jordan J. & McSweeney, Kevin T. & Allison, Thomas H. & Anglin, Aaron H., 2025. "The entrepreneurial pitching process: A systematic review using topic modeling and future research agenda," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 40(5).
    12. Jorge Guzman & Jean Joohyun Oh & Ananya Sen, 2020. "What Motivates Innovative Entrepreneurs? Evidence from a Global Field Experiment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(10), pages 4808-4819, October.
    13. Ewens, Michael, 2022. "Race and Gender in Entrepreneurial Finance," SocArXiv djf8z, Center for Open Science.
    14. Hong Luo & Laurina Zhang, 2022. "Scandal, Social Movement, and Change: Evidence from #MeToo in Hollywood," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(2), pages 1278-1296, February.
    15. Zandberg, Jonathan, 2021. "Family comes first: Reproductive health and the gender gap in entrepreneurship," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(3), pages 838-864.
    16. Cao, Ruiqing & Koning, Rembrand & Nanda, Ramana, 2020. "Biased sampling of early users and the direction of startup innovation," SocArXiv g6wjn, Center for Open Science.
    17. Ofir Gefen & David Reeb & Johan Sulaeman, 2024. "Startups’ demand for accounting expertise: evidence from a randomized field experiment," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 3019-3052, December.
    18. Pelucco, Valerio & Vismara, Silvio, 2025. "Where do angels come from?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    19. repec:osf:socarx:t7crk_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Gonzalez-Uribe, Juanita & Hmaddi, Ouafaa, 2022. "The multi-dimensional impacts of business accelerators what does the research tell us?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115461, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • D85 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Network Formation
    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

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