Is a VC Partnership Greater than the Sum of Its Partners?

48 Pages Posted: 20 Mar 2012 Last revised: 12 Jul 2014

See all articles by Michael Ewens

Michael Ewens

Columbia Business School; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Matthew Rhodes-Kropf

Harvard Business School - Entrepreneurial Management Unit; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: July 1, 2014

Abstract

This paper investigates whether individual venture capitalists have repeatable investment skill and to what extent their skill is impacted by the VC firm where they work. We examine a unique dataset that tracks the performance of individual venture capitalists’ investments across time and as they move between firms. We find evidence of skill and exit style differences even among venture partners investing at the same VC firm at the same time. Furthermore, our estimates suggest the partner’s human capital is two to five times more important than the VC firm’s organizational capital in explaining performance.

Keywords: Venture Capital, Performance Persistence, Theory of the Firm

JEL Classification: G24, G30

Suggested Citation

Ewens, Michael and Rhodes-Kropf, Matthew, Is a VC Partnership Greater than the Sum of Its Partners? (July 1, 2014). Journal of Finance, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2024209 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2024209

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Matthew Rhodes-Kropf

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