Reaping What You Sow: Social Networks and Success of Serial Entrepreneurs in Crowdfunding

With a rapid growth of interest in serial entrepreneurship, not only the prior success records but also the social connections established for social capital during the previous experience have been highlighted for future entrepreneurial venture success. While most social network literature focuses on entrepreneurs’ (“egos’”) network structure, we argue the potential benefits of complementing the current ego-centric perspective with a more alter-centric approach to the study of network formation in considering with reciprocity mechanism. Hypotheses were tested using a sample of 1,812 serial entrepreneurs in Kickstarter crowdfunding and our results showed the evidence that the overall effects of previous ego success on the entrepreneurs’ serial venture success are moderated by the success of the alter, and moreover, these effects are mediated by having more reciprocal ties. We discuss implications for theory and practice.