What Role do Founder Experience, IP, and CVC Play in Creating Unicorn Ventures? A Process Model

Abstract

Research suggests that the access to resources, experience of founders, and new ventures’ innovation contribute to the entrepreneurship success. However, it is somewhat unclear how some startups go above and beyond being regular startups and receive unicorn status, i.e., at least one-billion-dollar valuation. In this study, we examine how founders’ prior entrepreneurial experience, venture’s intellectual property (IP), and access to corporate venture capital (CVC) influence a startup’s likelihood of becoming a unicorn venture. We uncover that IP partially mediates the relationship between the founders’ prior entrepreneurial experience and the likelihood of becoming a unicorn venture and that the presence of CVC investors negatively moderates the effect of founders’ prior entrepreneurial experience on the venture’s IP. Surprisingly, we find that that the presence of CVC does not moderate the relationship between founders’ prior entrepreneurial experience and the likelihood of becoming a unicorn venture.