Throughout human history, people have sought to overcome the human condition and achieve the only form of immortality reasonably available to us: a legacy that “lives on” after we are gone. Legacies can be established in countless ways, including art (Leonardo da Vinci), literature (William...

There are ongoing debates in the literature concerning the performance of family firms: some studies find superior performance among these companies, others find negative or neutral per-formance effects. In this research we employ agency theory to argue that the effects of family ownership vs....

How much of entrepreneurial performance is sheer luck compared to talent, experience, education, and hard work? We define luck as unexpected performance and look for an answer in a large survey of entrepreneurs. Accordingly, luck ranks last in importance among various success factors and...

This paper examines the where, when and why of first round entrepreneurial investment activity in the United States from the first quarter of 1995 until the second quarter of 2010. The paper analyzes these venture capital investments taking into consideration the role of macroeconomic variables,...

In this paper it will be shown that entrepreneurial caliber is the most important factor to determine share prices having a positive impact on share prices. This analysis refers annually to the whole economy, where entrepreneurial caliber is the country's average and share price is the country's...

Economic geography receives limited consideration in the venture capital literature. This study utilizes thirty years of data concerning companies that initially were backed by venture capital. These firms are located in Entrepreneurial Focal Points in the United States, namely: California,...

What is luck in the opinion of entrepreneurs, how does it affect decisions, and what role does it play in firm performance? For an answer we rely on a unique survey of 63,202 individuals. Luck perceptions shape decisions. Individuals who believe luck is important are reluctant to become...

How much of entrepreneurial performance is sheer luck compared to talent, experience, education, and hard work? We define luck as unexpected performance and look for an answer in a large survey of entrepreneurs. Accordingly, luck ranks last in importance among various success factors and...