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  • 2018
  • Article
  • Strategic Management Journal

Prior Ties and the Limits of Peer Effects on Startup Team Performance

By: Sharique Hasan and Rembrand Koning
  • Format:Print
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Abstract

We conduct a field experiment at an entrepreneurship bootcamp to investigate whether interaction with proximate peers shapes a nascent startup team's performance. We find that teams whose members lack prior ties to others at the bootcamp experience peer effects that influence the quality of their product prototypes. A one-standard-deviation increase in the performance of proximate teams is related to a two-thirds standard-deviation improvement for a focal team. In contrast, we find that teams whose members have many prior ties interact less frequently with proximate peers, and thus their performance is unaffected by nearby teams. Our findings highlight how prior social connections, which are often a source of knowledge and influence, can limit new interactions and thus the ability of organizations to leverage peer effects to improve the performance of their members.

Keywords

Field Experiment; Peer Effects; Office Space; Knowledge Spillovers; Accelerators; Entrepreneurship; Knowledge Sharing; Performance; Technology Industry; India

Citation

Hasan, Sharique, and Rembrand Koning. "Prior Ties and the Limits of Peer Effects on Startup Team Performance." Strategic Management Journal 40, no. 9 (September 2019): 1394–1416.

Supplemental Information

Online Appendix
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About The Author

Rembrand M. Koning

Strategy
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  • Thinx, Inc.—Breaking Barriers in Feminine Care By: Rembrand Koning
  • mPharma (A) and (B) By: Rembrand Koning and Namrata Arora
  • Who Do We Invent for? Patents by Women Focus More on Women's Health, but Few Women Get to Invent By: Rembrand Koning, Sampsa Samila and John-Paul Ferguson
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