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Founder non-international experience and venture internationalization

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Abstract

Generating international sales with high intensity and at an early point in time can significantly enhance a new venture’s performance and growth potential. This paper draws on human capital theory to develop and empirically test a model proposing that entrepreneurs’ prior founding experience enhances new ventures’ international sales intensity, while their prior domestic work experience diminishes such sales intensity. Further, our model proposes that prior founding and domestic work experience delay rather than speed up first international sales. Survey data on 100 international new ventures reveals that entrepreneurs’ prior founding experience postpones first international sales and that prior domestic work experience is negatively associated with ventures’ international sales intensity. Our findings illustrate the downsides of experience for new venture internationalization and indicate a greater need to consider types of experience outside the internationalization domain to understand important venture outcomes.

Zusammenfassung

Ein hoher Internationalisierungsgrad und frühzeitige Internationalisierung tragen maßgeblich zum Erfolg und Wachstum von jungen Unternehmen bei. Die vorliegende Studie bedient sich der Humankapital-Theorie und postuliert, dass Gründungserfahrung des Unternehmers einen positiven Einfluss auf den Internationalisierungsgrad und Arbeitserfahrung im Heimatmarkt einen negativen Einfluss auf den Internationalisierungsgrad junger Unternehmen hat. Außerdem wird postuliert, dass sowohl Gründungserfahrung, als auch Arbeitserfahrung im Heimatmarkt auf Seiten des Gründers zu späterer Internationalisierung führen. Umfragedaten von 100 international tätigen jungen Unternehmen bestätigen, dass Gründungserfahrung des Unternehmers zu späterer Internationalisierung führt und dass Arbeitserfahrung im Heimatmarkt einen negativen Einfluss auf den Internationalisierungsgrad hat. Diese Ergebnisse zeigen die Kehrseite von Erfahrung für die Internationalisierung von jungen Unternehmen auf und machen deutlich, dass auch Erfahrungen, die nicht unmittelbar internationalisierungsbezogen sind, berücksichtigt werden müssen, um Unternehmenserfolg und Wachstum zu verstehen.

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Notes

  1. Firm age and firm size were measured at the time of data collection and therefore after first international entry took place in the sample ventures. Therefore, controlling for these variables is not meaningful in the regressions explaining age at first international sales.

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  1. Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3C5, Canada

    Anne Domurath

  2. TUM School of Management, Chair of Entrepreneurship, Technische Universität München, Arcisstrasse 21, 80333, Munich, Germany

    Holger Patzelt

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  1. Anne Domurath
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Academy of Management Annual Meeting (ENT Division), 2013, Orlando, USA.

Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference, 2012, Fort Worth, USA.

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Domurath, A., Patzelt, H. Founder non-international experience and venture internationalization. J Int Entrep 17, 494–519 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10843-019-00249-0

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