Keys to success in investment rounds by immigrant entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley

This study presents an updated diagnosis of the SV ecosystem itself and offers an insight into the entrepreneurial mobility trends prospects and expectations of the growing number of start-ups launched by immigrant entrepreneurs arriving in SV. The purpose is to determine and rank the attributes most valued by investors when assessing projects and start-ups founded by immigrant entrepreneurs. The model of analysis composed by three hypotheses leads to a series of findings about the profile and expectations of the immigrant entrepreneurs, and reveals remarkable hints and key targets to be met by immigrant entrepreneurs in SV in order to successfully close investment rounds in a hypercompetitive environment. The study discloses the low impact of the founder’s profile as a driver of external investment. A key conclusion states that Venture Capitalists and Business Angels in the top-ranked entrepreneurial ecosystem are primarily led by factors linked to the competitive environment and the product development process, along with the traditional performance indicators: revenue and profitability.

     

Is experience a useful resource for business model innovation?

Business model innovation has been proposed as a powerful strategic tool, able to offer competitive advantage, create markets and even reshape industries. Despite these powerful effects, little research has been conducted into studying and improving business model generation methods, and even less study has gone into analysing how to define new business models that can exert a disruptive effect on markets and industries. Our work tries to fill this gap, analysing whether experience encourages or discourages the generation of disruptive business models. An empirical analysis was carried out using an experimental methodology. The results seem to contradict the currently dominant Resource-Based View, but can be explained by the theory on inertia in organisations.