Does the Crowd Forgive?

Abstract

In the literature about serial entrepreneurs, experience and network gained from previous entrepreneurial projects is considered having a positive impact on the outcome of following ventures, offsetting the negatives effects of past failures. In this paper, we show that serial entrepreneurs with a first failed crowdfunding campaign are unable to reverse the negative opinion of the crowd on their ability to lead a project. Despite the adjustments made by the entrepreneurs on their new crowdfunding campaigns based on what they have learned from previous experience, we show that their new campaigns, despite an increase in the number of backers and in the money raised, still show lower success rate than for first timers or for entrepreneurs with a successful previous campaign.