10 Feb 2017Working Paper Summaries

The Persistent Effect of Initial Success: Evidence from Venture Capital

by Ramana Nanda, Sampsa Samila, and Olav Sorenson

To understand better what channels might account for persistence in the fund-level performance of private equity firms, the authors examine the individual investments underlying fund-level returns.

Author Abstract

We used data on individual investments in the portfolios of venture capital firms to study persistence in their performance. Each additional IPO among a VC's first five investments predicted a 13% higher IPO rate for its subsequent 50 investments. Roughly half of this performance persistence stemmed from investment "styles"—investing in particular regions and industries. We found no evidence of performance persistence stemming from a differential ability to select or govern portfolio companies. Rather, our results suggest that early success in venture investing yields better deal flow in subsequent investments, thereby perpetuating differences in the outcomes of initial investments.