Financing Entrepreneurial Experimentation

Ramana Nanda and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf

No 21278, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: The fundamental uncertainty of new technologies at their earliest stages implies that it is virtually impossible to know the true potential of a venture without learning about its viability through a sequence of investments over time. We show how this process of experimentation can be particularly valuable in the context of entrepreneurship because most new ventures fail completely, and only a few become extremely successful. We also shed light on important costs to this process of experimentation, and demonstrate how these can fundamentally alter both the rate and direction of startup innovation across industries, regions and periods of time.

JEL-codes: G24 L26 O31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ent, nep-ino and nep-sbm
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Published as Financing Entrepreneurial Experimentation , Ramana Nanda, Matthew Rhodes-Kropf. in Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 16 , Lerner and Stern. 2016

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Journal Article: Financing Entrepreneurial Experimentation (2016)
Chapter: Financing Entrepreneurial Experimentation (2015)
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