Abstract:

The discourse on traits of entrepreneurs has consistently captivated researchers, and past studies have predominantly examined the influence of different personality traits and associated contingencies on venture creation, performance, and success. Venture performance depends not only on founder personality but also on how external capital interacts with those traits. Advancing research on founder traits and external financing conditions, this study examines how venture capital funding interacts with narcissistic personality traits to shape venture performance. Grounded in resource dependence and upper echelons theory, we investigate the impact of narcissistic personality traits and resilience among student entrepreneurs on venture performance, positioning venture capital funding as a structural condition that shapes how founder personality translates into outcomes. We identify resilience as a key mechanism through which the interaction between narcissism and venture funding translates into venture performance. A sample of 943 student entrepreneurs from the top five nations for venture capital investment (i.e., USA, China, England, India, and Germany) was sourced from the 2023 Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey (GUESSS). The findings indicate that venture funding fundamentally alters the relationship between narcissism and resilience. Among entrepreneurs without funding, narcissism shows a modest positive association with resilience. However, securing funding significantly strengthens this association, implying that external capital amplifies the resilience-enhancing effects of narcissism. At the same time, funded entrepreneurs report lower average baseline resilience compared to non-funded entrepreneurs, indicating that external capital may initially reduce the necessity to develop resilience. Yet, when high narcissism is present, this lower baseline is reversed, resulting in highly resilient narcissistic founders under funding conditions. Resilience, in turn, is positively associated with venture performance, and this effect is particularly pronounced among funded ventures. Overall, venture performance is highest when funding strengthens the positive influence of narcissism on resilience. These findings suggest that venture capital funding that accounts for founder personality can strategically enhance psychological capital and venture performance, guiding both policy and managerial implications for venture capitalists and the pitchers.

Please choose your submission type: Developmental Paper

Primary Track: Entrepreneurship

Keywords: Entrepreneurship Theories

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Mr. Gautam Mishra