The Social Capital of Serial Entrepreneurs in Crowdfunding

Abstract

세계 각국에서의 벤처기업 육성과 산업생태계의 재편을 위한 정부의 활발한 정책지원이 강화되고 있고, 창업 열기도 점차 확산되어 가는 추세이다. 이러한 움직임에 따라, 새로운 아이디어를 가진 초기 창업가가 벤처창업에 필요한 자본력을 갖추기 위하여 다수의 소액투자자로부터 자금을 조달하는‘크라우드펀딩(crowdfunding)’이 새로운 투자형태로서 급부상하였다. 특히, 창업에 계속적으로 재도전하는 연쇄창업가(serial entrepreneur)가 최근 펀딩 플랫폼에서 상당 수 발견되고 있으며, 그들이 유치하는 투자금액이 실로 전체 규모의 상당부분을 차지하고 있음이 밝혀졌다. 본 연구는 이러한 크라우드펀딩에서의 연쇄창업가가 일반적인 일회성(one-time) 창업가와 다른 특성이 무엇인지를 밝히고, 그 주요 요인으로서 그들의‘사회적 자본(social capital)’에 초점을 맞추었다. 무엇보다, 그동안 Kickstarter, Indiegogo와 같은 대표적인 크라우드펀딩 플랫폼에 관한 선행연구들이 주로 재무적 관점만을 고려한데 반하여, 본 연구는 재무적 성공(펀딩)이 가장 중요한 크라우드펀딩 플랫폼에서도 창업가 개인(STUDY1) 및 프로젝트 팀원들(STUDY2)의 사회적 네트워크(social network)가 펀딩 성공에 핵심요인으로 작용한다는 사회적 관점의 타당성을 입증하였다. 이를 위해 창업가 네트워크의 호혜성(reciprocity), 창업 프로젝트 팀원의 과거 연결관계(prior tie) 등 사회적 자본 요인을 다각도로 살펴보고, 약 31만 개에 이르는 방대한 프로젝트 자료를 바탕으로 연구과제를 분석하였다. 구체적으로는, 세계 1위의 크라우드펀딩 플랫폼인 Kickstarter에서 지난 10년 동안 이루어진 약 31만개의 프로젝트 자료를 전수조사하여, 이중 연쇄창업가 1,812명(STUDY1)과 프로젝트 팀 1,457팀(STUDY2)을 웹로봇(Webrobot, Webcrawler) 프로그램을 통해 추출하고 이를 연구 대상으로서 검증하였다. 종합하여, 본 연구는 벤처창업의 중요성이 증가하는 현 상황에 주목하고, 크라우드펀딩 플랫폼에서 연쇄창업가의 사회적 자본 특성과 그 효과를 종단연구 설계를 통해 규명한 점에서 의의가 있다.;In recent years, crowdfunding continues to become an important source of capital for entrepreneurial initiatives by both ventures and individuals. A number of entrepreneurs have acquired capital through crowdfunding platform. Increasingly, an emerging literature on crowdfunding zeroed in on the social aspects of crowdfunding. Indeed, crowdfunding platforms can be an important locus as to acquiring social capital by seeking financial and other resources via business connections with parties. Social capital obtained from such social interactions can be a key factor that confers a competitive advantage for new venturing. Yet, most studies on this topic have, unfortunately, chosen to characterize social capital as a mere part of “social media” (e.g., Facebook contacts), which generally mediate personal acquaintances including family or friends. This dissertation, however, puts forward the notion that crowdfunding platforms itself not just serve as mediators of financial transactions, but also function as loci of social network structures. Particularly, this dissertation further aims to uncover how social capital acquired through crowdfunding plays a crucial role, especially among serial entrepreneurs to improve performance in their subsequent ventures. Indeed, the number of entrepreneurs who repeatedly launch their venture in the platform for gaining their required capital has rapidly been increasing. Serial entrepreneurs, compared to novice (one-time) entrepreneurs, often have been examined to outperform not only with sources acquired from previous ventures but also by making use of their accumulated social connections established during their previous entrepreneurial experiences. Yet, scholarly understanding of how and under what conditions social capital drives varying subsequent outcomes among serial entrepreneurs remains limited. To this end, I, in this dissertation, seek to extend the boundary of the crowdfunding literature by examining two main aspects of network structure: —across (external) and within (internal) networks— in serial entrepreneurial ventures. In line with prior research which emphasizes the functions of these two forms of networks on ventures, this dissertation theorizes and tests ideas about how these two forms of networks can improve serial entrepreneurial performance, regarding their accessibility to the sources of resources and capabilities. As such, this dissertation consists of two main studies that investigate each aspect of social networks respectively. Drawing on both macro and micro levels of social network dynamics in entrepreneurship literature, the first study, as the macro level, uncovers how reciprocal ties between entrepreneurial founders can be formed and how such external network ties can affect and be affected by a crowdfunding context. Especially, this study attempts to theorize a new mechanism of network formation applying an alter-centric prospect. Next, the second study, as the micro level, employs a team-focused approach which investigates more on serial venture team’s internal composition and networks to examine how serial entrepreneurial teams with members learn from their prior experiences. Study I: Reaping What You Sow: Social Networks and Success of Serial Entrepreneurs in Crowdfunding With a rapid growth of interest in serial entrepreneurship, not only the prior success records but also the social connections established for social capital during the previous experience have been highlighted for future entrepreneurial venture success. While most social network literature focuses on entrepreneurs’ (“egos’”) network structure, I argue the possible benefits of adding the current ego-centric perspective with an alter-centric approach to the research of network formation in considering with reciprocity mechanism. Hypotheses were tested using longitudinal data of 1,812 serial entrepreneurs in Kickstarter crowdfunding and the results showed the evidence that the overall effects of previous ego success on the entrepreneurs’ serial venture success are moderated by the success of the alter, and moreover, these effects are mediated by having more reciprocal ties. I discuss implications for theory and practice. Study II: The Ins and Outs: The Effects of Prior Category Spanning and Sharing Experience Network in Serial Entrepreneurial Teams Recent entrepreneurship research has paid increasing attention to a relation between entrepreneurial experience and subsequent venture performance. Employing a uniquely team-focused approach, this article attempts to expand on prior serial entrepreneurship literature which mainly remained at a single enterprising individual. In line with this team-based view, this article further disentangles serial entrepreneurial team member’s prior experience into two aspects—their prior category spanning and prior sharing experience network. Moreover, by investigating under what conditions this prior experience was acquired, this article gives insightful implications for subsequent venturing. Related hypotheses are tested using a longitudinal data sample of 1,457 serial entrepreneurial teams for ten-year period in Kickstarter, which is one of the most prominent crowdfunding platforms.