Corporate Venture Capitalists with a ‘Bird’s-Eye View’ – A Dynamic Social Network Perspective

I empirically analyze the formation and transformation of corporate venture capitalists’ (CVC) social networks and social capital. I investigate the resulting structural and relational changes illuminating the process of interorganizational knowledge transfer and innovation generation of CVC programs. I find that CVC networks and the resulting social capital can ease knowledge transfer and innovation, but may over time also hinder it, thus turning social capital into a liability. Theoretically, I expand existing literature by investigating a so far unexplored intra-/interorganizational knowledge broker configuration, and I identify additional roles of the CVC manager as mediator and interventionist with a privileged bird’s-eye view.