This paper demonstrates that liquidity gaps disrupt the venture capital cycle. How should this problem be addressed? We offer a new perspective on the venture capital cycle and argue that the emergence of more liquidity options can bridge these gaps. Analyzing the development of secondary...

We conjecture that venture capitalists and their investors often fall prey to what is known as ‘collective conservatism.' We investigate this conjecture by analyzing boilerplate provisions in limited partnership agreements. When investors accept suboptimal boilerplate provisions it is not...

This paper argues that the key to success for any business enterprise is to build and maintain relevancy in the market place, whilst also remaining relevant to all the various stakeholders within the firm (e.g., employees and investors). Relevancy in the market means delivering products or...

The Capital Markets Union (CMU) aims to strengthen capital markets and investments in the EU. In the context of innovative SMEs (start-ups and scale-ups), the CMU's goal is to make more "venture capital" available to these businesses. However, greater volumes of available venture capital can...

The digital transformation is disrupting the financial sector. Venture capital, private equity and hedge funds are also affected. We see more and more firms implement emerging technologies in their investment process. There are several common trends. Big Data analytics and the use of artificial...

Snap's IPO with no voting rights shows there is disagreement on what good governance means. Some experts viewed the founders' total control over Snap, and the resulting lack of accountability to shareholders, as a “banana republic approach” to corporate governance. Others believe that Snap's...

Board evaluation can provide a vital tool for directors to review and improve their performance. This will eventually lead to significant value creation opportunities for firms. But is increased regulation and regulatory guidance requiring board evaluation a realistic or sensible move? Is it...

A significant development in the global economy over the last two decades has been the emergence of businesses that organize and define themselves as “platforms.” By platform, we refer to any organization that uses digital or other emerging technologies to create value by facilitating or...

We live in a world that has historically been dominated by centralized, hierarchical organizations. Such organizations are characterized by (i) a centralized source of authority; (ii) a formal hierarchy with clearly defined “roles”; and, (iii) standardized operational systems and procedures...

Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about the possible future uses and benefits of blockchain platforms and related technologies, such as smart contracts. This has led to talk of a “blockchain revolution.” Much of this discussion was triggered by the recent “crypto-hype.” We...