Venture Advocate Behaviors and the Emerging Enterprise

摘要

Research summaryVenture founders rely on the help of others in their community to move their emerging enterprises forward. While these helping behaviors, here called venture advocate behaviors (VABs), are critical for founders with limited resources, they have received little theoretical or empirical attention. We explore VABs and develop propositions regarding a venture advocate's propensity to engage in such behaviors. Using social exchange theory, we examine how reciprocity between different actors, including paying back and paying forward, and other factors promote VABs.