Take a Chance on Me: An Examination of the Interdependence of Start-up Tie Formation Across Venture Capital and Alliance Networks

Organizations exploit the information diffusion and signaling properties of their existing inter-organizational networks to manage the risks and uncertainty involved in forming new partnerships. How then do new organizations that are unknown to existing network members gain admission to the network? This study examines the conditions under which a stranger to a focal network can gain admission by leveraging a different type of relationship it has with an organization that is also a member of the focal network. We investigate this question by examining whether and when a corporate venture capital CVC relationship between an incumbent and a new venture leads them to form a strategic alliance with each other. Building on real options research and our field work, we argue that a CVC investment in a venture creates a growth option and forming an alliance with the venture represents the exercise of this option. We predict the resolution of uncertainty about a venture and its technology and the risk of the option being preemptively exercised by others increases the hazard rate of alliance formation, while the strength of the investor?s technological resources moderates these effects. A survival analysis of 302 CVC dyads provides support for most of the hypotheses.