Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • September 2023
  • Article
  • Strategic Management Journal

Judging Foreign Startups

By: Nataliya Langburd Wright, Rembrand Koning and Tarun Khanna
  • Format:Electronic
  • | Pages:31
ShareBar

Abstract

Can accelerators pick the most promising startup ideas no matter their provenance? Using unique data from a global accelerator where judges are randomly assigned to evaluate startups headquartered across the globe, we show that judges are less likely to recommend startups headquartered outside their home region by 4 percentage points. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest this discount leads judges to pass over 1 in 20 promising startups. Despite this systematic discount, we find that—in contrast to many past studies—judges can discern startup quality and are no better at evaluating local firms. These differences emerge because the pool of startups accelerator judges evaluate is both broader and less “local,” suggesting that judging ability depends on the composition of the companies they are tasked with evaluating.

Keywords

Entrepreneurship And Strategy; Global Strategy; Entrepreneurial Financing; Innovation; International; Entrepreneurship; Judgments; Business Startups; Geographic Location; Growth and Development Strategy

Citation

Wright, Nataliya Langburd, Rembrand Koning, and Tarun Khanna. "Judging Foreign Startups." Strategic Management Journal 44, no. 9 (September 2023): 2195–2225.
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Purchase

About The Authors

Rembrand M. Koning

Strategy
→More Publications

Tarun Khanna

Strategy
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • November 2023
    • Research Policy

    Open Source Software and Global Entrepreneurship

    By: Nataliya Langburd Wright, Frank Nagle and Shane Greenstein
    • August 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Newlab: Scaling an Innovation Engine

    By: Tarun Khanna and Felicia Belostecinic
    • July 2023
    • Faculty Research

    India Stack: Digital Public Infrastructure for All

    By: Tarun Khanna, Anjali Raina and Rachna Chawla
More from the Authors
  • Open Source Software and Global Entrepreneurship By: Nataliya Langburd Wright, Frank Nagle and Shane Greenstein
  • Newlab: Scaling an Innovation Engine By: Tarun Khanna and Felicia Belostecinic
  • India Stack: Digital Public Infrastructure for All By: Tarun Khanna, Anjali Raina and Rachna Chawla
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College