Coming from Good Stock: Career Histories and New Venture Formation

We examine how the social structure of existing organizations influences the entrepreneurial process and suggest that resources accrue to entrepreneurs based on the structural position of their prior employers. We argue that information advantages allow individuals from entrepreneurially prominent prior firms to identify new opportunities. Entrepreneurial prominence also provides reputation benefits that reduce the perceived uncertainty of a new venture in the eyes of external constituents. Using a sample of Silicon Valley start-ups, we demonstrate that entrepreneurial prominence is associated with initial strategy and the probability of attracting external financing. New ventures with high prominence are more likely to be innovators; furthermore, innovators with high prominence are more likely to obtain financing.