My PhD-project compares tie formation practices of innovative start-ups and university spin-offs in Berlin and Silicon Valley. Thus, I address one of the pressing questions concerning entrepreneurial networking: How do entrepreneurs form ties during the founding process? While previous research focused on the effects of networks on venture success, I contribute to the still minor, but growing research body that analyses networks as the dependent variable and captures the process of tie formation.
In my multiple case study, I compare innovative start-ups and university spin-offs in Berlin and Silicon Valley, focussing on new ventures in their early founding stages. My analysis takes a practice perspective based on Giddens' structuration theory. This enables me to emphasize strategic tie formation by entrepreneurs, but also the impact of structural conditions on this process. I argue that entrepreneurial networking is not only influenced by their specific resource needs, but also by scripts for legitimate tie formation, anticipated expectations of others, and available actors in their respective environment.
About me: I’m a PhD student (final year) at TU Berlin with a background in sociology and science and technology studies. My interest areas are located at the intersection of organization studies, network theory, and entrepreneurship research. My research focuses on tie formation of new ventures. Furthermore, I’m interested in role of networks for the formation of entrepreneurial teams and the dynamics of entrepreneurial ecosystems.
