The Role of Knowledge and Social Capital in Venture Capital Investing

As venture capitalists continue to invest billions of dollars in high-potential companies, affecting and in some cases determining economic prosperity overall, they face a serious challenge: They must learn from their prior investments-both successes and failures-to leverage their knowledge and social skills effectively and thereby support their massive investments. By moving beyond the limitations of prior research and considering the roles that knowledge exchange and social capital play in the relationships between venture capitalists and their portfolio companies, this book provides timely, relevant, and crucial academic and practical recommendations for researchers, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs. If venture capitalists want to minimize risk and help their investment portfolios succeed, they must recognize how their knowledge and social capital can contribute to making the companies in which they invest successful.