Risk is a big concern for anyone contemplating investing in new, especially innovative ventures. However, if successful, the returns can be extraordinary, serving as an impetus for many venture capitalists to provide greater funding. Still, many new ventures never see the end of the tunnel, and...

We examine the value added by venture capital investors during the due-diligence process. We use data from a seed fund that quasi-randomly assigns applicants to due diligence, creating a natural experiment. We find that due-diligence assignment leads to higher average growth, even for companies...

Venture capitalists not only finance but also advise and thereby add value to young innovative firms. The prospects of venture capital backed firms thus depend on joint efforts of entrepreneurs and informed venture capitalists, and are subject to double moral hazard. In financing a portfolio of...