Venture Capital and High Technology Entrepreneurship
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VENTI]RE CAPITAL AND HIGH TECIINOLOGY RICHARD FLORIDA Carnegie Mellon University MARTIN KENNEY Ohio State University Venture capital clearly plays an important role in high technology entre- EXECUTIVE preneurship. Thep urpose of this article is to explain the differencesa mong SUMMARY various venture capital complexesf ocusing on where venture capital is important ta innovation and entrepreneurshipa nd conversely where it is not. We do so through an empirical and historical examination of the seven most important venture capito.l complexes: California (San Franciscol Siliccrn Valley), Massachusetts( Boston), New York, Illinois (Chicago), Texas, Connecticut, and Min- nesota (Minneapolis). We establish a three-part tripartite typologyf or explaining the differencesb etweent hesev enture capital complexes: I) technology-oriented complexes are located close to concentrations of high technology intensive businesses,i nvest most of their funds locally, and are net attractors of capital; 2)finance-oriented complexesa re located aroundfinancial institutions and export their capital; and 3) hybrid complexesm ix characteristics of both technology andfinance-oriented venturing. Our findings have a series of important practical implications. Although venture capital is not absolutely necessary to lacilirate high technology entepreneurship, well-developed venture capitaL networks provide tremendous incentivesf or entrepreneurshipb y lowering the dfficulties of entering an industry. Venture capitalists use both their experiencea nd their contacts to reduce many of the information and opportunity costs associatedw ith new businessfo rmation. The importance of contact networksa nd information to both dealflow and investmentm onitoring goesa low way toward explaining why venture capitalists cluster tightly together. The availability of venture capital also attracts entre- preneurs and high quality personnel to a region creating a virtuous circle of new enterprisef ormation, innovation, and economic development. We gratefully acknowledge financial assistancep rovided by the Economic Development Administration, Ohio State University Urban Affairs Committee 4nd the Ohio Board of Regents. Thanks are due Harvey Brooks, Cordon Clark, Sam Cole, Marshall Feldman, Bennett Harrison, Ian MacMillan, and three anonymous reviewers for their comments and assistance. Address correspondencet o ProfessorR ichard Florida, School of Urban and Public Affairs, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA t5213. Joumalo f BusinessV enturing3 , 301-319 0883-9026/88/$530 @ 1988E lsevierS cienceP ublishingC o , Inc., 655 Avenueo f the Americas,N ew York, NY 10010 301 342 R. L. FLoRTDAA ND M KENNEY Private, nonproft, and subsidizedp ublic efforts aimed at providing venture capital and stim- and Connectic ulating high technology entrepreneurship must confront the fact that venture capital alone will not running from 1 magically generate enftepreneurship and economic development. It is important that such efforts Our rese recognize the nonfinancial side of venture investing and attract experiencedp ersonnel who can tap various centerl into established entrepreneurial nenvorks and secure coinvestors. More significantly, establishing oriented financ public venture in an area lacking the requisite entrepreneurial climate or technology infra- funding nology-oriente structu'ie ma/- crea.tea "catch 22" situation where locally orientedfunds invest in bad deals or where capital and rei venture capital is simply exported to establishedh igh technology regions. t potential inves 1 This pap INTRODUCTIONl 1 The datab asep and participant There is little doubt that venturec apital plays a critical role in high technologye ntepreneurship f Capital Journt and economicc hange.C learly, the vibrancea nd rapid growth of California's Silicon Valley firm level data and Boston-Route 128 areao we much to the significant amountso f venture capital available { industry, it en there. The successs tories of high flying start-ups like Fairchild, Intel, Digital Equipment patternso f the Corporation( DEC), Apple Computer,C ray Computer,S un Microsystems,G enentech,a nd 1 of leading com countless others stand in sharp contrast to the stagnationa nd decline found in older man- The remi ufacturing sectors. Thus, it is not surprising that both private and public sector actors have typology of ler becomee namoredw ith venturec apitala s a mechanismfo r incubatingt echnologyb usinesses torical evolutic and generatinge conomicg rowth. their implicatic Despite its importance in premier high technology regions, the availability of venture capital does not necessarily translate into high technology entrepreneurship.T wo of the nation's foremost locations of venture capital, New York and Chicago, are quite laggard in TYPOLOGY terms of new businessf ormation, innovation, and technology-basedg rowth. These areas Although ventu serve simply to collect venture capital which they then export to a variety of locations. to more than $2 The way that venture capital complexes arise and how they effect high technology Economics1 98. entrepreneurshipa re the major themes of this paper. We explore the origins and evolution and Kenney 19 of seven important venture capital complexes and suggesta three part typology for under- venturec apital I standingt hem.2T echnology-orientedco mplexes,s uch as San Francisco/SiliconV alley, are and Massachust locateda roundc oncentrationos f technologyi rrtensiveb usinessesa, ssumea local investment is tightly cluste focus, and attracts ignificanta mountso f outsidec apital.F inance-basecdo mplexes,I ike New Surprisinl York and Chicago, are located in areasw here financial institutions are highly concentrated, clusters.T he lit contain a high proportion of venture capital subsidiarieso f financial colporations, and are Schiffel andM o export-oriented. Hybrids mix characteristicso f both financial and technology-orientedv en- the most recent turing. This does not imply, however, that all hybrids are alike. Boston, Minneapolis, Texas, 1987)m akesn r Yanousv enture 'We wculd like to acknowledge the information and assistancep rovided by the following venture capitalists technologye ntrr in the Midwest, northern Califomia and Boston. David Morgenthaler and Charles James, who are headquartered well 1985;F ree in Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio respectively, gave us an invaluable assistancein launching our research.V enture capitalists we interviewed in northern Califomia include: David Arscott, James Balderston, Frank Chambers, kusen, Hall and William Chandler, Thomas Davis, Wallace Davis, Reid Dennis, John Dougery, William Edwards, Mary Jane types of ventu( Elmore, Frankiin Johnson, Eugene Kleiner, Bu(on McMurtry, Steve Menill, Arthur Rock, Peter Roshko, Craig Table l sh Taylor, Donald Valentine, David Wegmann, and Paul Wythes, as well as Henry Riggs of Stanford University. Those interviewed in Boston were: Peter Brooke, William Burgin, Richard Bumes, Craig Bun, Thomas Claflan, complexesi n te Daniel Gregory, Harry Heeler, Paul Hogan, JosephP owell, Patrick Sansonetti,J ohn Shane, and Courtney Whiten. dollar volume c 'Venture capital firms are financial intermediariest hat collect capita! from a variety of sourcesa nd redistribute it via their investments. The precise origin of the funds that are collected and deployed by venture capitalists is cisco), New Yr difficult to specify. While it is possible to examine the investors in venture capital partnerships,s uch as an endeavor Minnesota (Mir is problematic since large financial corporations and other institutional investors mobilize funds in national and gregates,t he an global markets. It is thus impossible to ascertaint he precise origin of funds being supplied to venture capital firms. However, examining the distinct clusters or complexes of venture capital activity remains important since venture activity. Ventur capitalists play a central role in collecting and mobilizing funds for high technology businessf ormations. pages. VENTUREC APITALA ND HIGHT ECHNOLOGY 303 and Connecticutc an be bettert houghto f as representingp rogressivep oints on a continuum running from predominantly technology-orientedt o predominantly finance-basedv enturing. Our researchf urther suggestst hat coinvestment forms an important link between the various centerso f venture capital activity. It allows venture capital firms located in export- oriented financial complexes to participate in deals originated by venture capitalists in tech- nology-orientedc omplexes.E xtensivec oinvestingf acilitatesl ong distancef lows of venture capital and reinforces the flow of venture capital toward locations that generate the best potentiali nvestmento pportunities. This paperp resentsfi ndingsf rom a firm level datab aseo n the venturec apitali ndustry. The datab asep rovidesd iscretei nformationo n venturec apitali nvestors,p ortfolio companies, and participantsi n investments yndications.I t has been compiled from reportsi n Venture Capital Journal that focus on venture capital investmentsi n various areas.A lthough the firm level data based oes not comprisea fully representatives ampleo f the venturec apital industry, it enablesu s to approximatem ore accuratelyt he investmenta nd coinvestment patternso f the variousc omplexes,a nd as such, allows us to understandb ettert he evolution of leading complexes. The remaindero f this paper proceedsa s follows. The first section summarizeso ur typology of leading venturec apital centers.T he following sectionst hen explore their