Seminars

Save the date: December 19 2024

Evy Van Lancker (UGent), does research on scaling, HR etc.

Save the date: 21 November 2024

Program:

11.00h – 12-00h, A venture studio: a new type of entrepreneurial support organisation, Laurence Rijssegem (University of Ghent), Ine Paeleman (University of Antwerp).

Abstract: Venture studios are a new type of entrepreneurial support organization (ESO). Despite the growing popularity of venture studios, empirical research on venture studios is still largely lacking due to conceptual ambiguity. To address this gap, we investigate how venture studios differ from other ESOs, distinguish between different types of venture studios, and clarify how they create value for their portfolio startups. This exploratory study investigates 14 venture studios in Europe and adopts a design lens to identify the venture studio’s key design elements. We identify five key design elements and distinguish between three different types of venture studios. We contribute to the ESO literature by delineating venture studios as a new type of ESO. Further, by introducing a design lens, we contribute to the venture studio literature by developing a theoretically grounded approach to analyze venture studios.

12.00h – 13.00h, Persuading the crowd of novel ideas: A configurational investigation of signaling and framing in equity crowdfunding, Lien Denoo (Tilburg University). 

Abstract: Integrating signaling theory and entrepreneurial framing literature, we adopt Qualitative Comparative Analysis to explore how new ventures with varying novelty achieve fundraising success by framing human, social, and intellectual capital signals. Using a sample of new ventures on a leading UK- based equity crowdfunding platform, we show intricate configurational patterns and identify four fundraising strategies: Certified Prorotype Specifics and Patent-Driven Prototype Coherence for pre-market ventures with novel ideas, Validated Product Specifics for post-market ventures with novel ideas, and Socially-Proved Achievements Elaboration for post-market ventures with less novel ideas. We extend research on signaling theory, entrepreneurial framing, and entrepreneurial finance with contingent and configurational insights: signaling and framing can complement or substitute each other, whose performance implication depends heavily on novelty and the stages of new ventures.

Managerial summary: Convincing investors is a daunting challenge for entrepreneurs with novel business ideas, as investors face extreme uncertainty and severe information asymmetries, which could be overcome by signaling venture quality and framing entrepreneurial ideas as suggested by previous research. In this article, we take a configurational lens and investigate how signaling, framing, and novelty jointly (rather than independently) help entrepreneurs achieve fundraising success in the context of equity crowdfunding. Our findings yield four distinct fundraising strategies for different types of new ventures: Certified Prorotype Specifics and Patent-Driven Prototype Coherence for pre-market ventures with novel ideas, Validated Product Specifics for post-market ventures with novel ideas, and Socially-Proved Achievements Elaboration for post- market ventures with less novel ideas. We therefore provide entrepreneurs with comprehensive and actionable instructions in fundraising.