Entrepreneurship and Startups

April 21st, 2023

Why Venture Capitalists Should Invest in Start-Ups Led by Diverse Teams

How do diverse European teams fare in gathering investment for their ideas and taking their product or service to market? Amazingly, this question had remained unanswered until now. A study from two HEC researchers and a UK-based venture capitalist marks the first time that gender and ethnic diversity data was gathered on European start-ups attracting venture capital… with some surprising results.

By Carlos Serrano , Thomas Åstebro

diverse team working in a meeting room - thumbnail

Entrepreneurship and Startups

February 06th, 2023

How to Ensure Entrepreneur Training Really Delivers Business Growth

Vast sums have been pumped into training schemes to boost entrepreneurship and innovation despite mixed reviews of their true impact. As belts tighten in a struggling world economy and further justification is needed, attention returns to this vital question: Do ambitious entrepreneurs benefit more from training? A new study by Anne-Valérie Corboz of HEC Paris, Reddi Kotha and Yimin Lin of the Singapore Management University, and Balagopal Vissa of INSEAD, reveals under which conditions training has a beneficial impact.

By Anne-Valérie Corboz

people brainstorming in an office-knowledge-thumbnail

Entrepreneurship and Startups

November 02nd, 2022

How AI is Affecting VC Funding of Innovative Startups

Artificial Intelligence adoption by investors might hinder the allocation of capital to breakthrough innovations. Learn more in this interview with Maxime Bonelli, PhD student in Finance at HEC Paris, on his dissertation. Maxime focuses on the real effects of new technologies and human capital in the financial sector, to help us better understand how the industrial organization of the financial sector affects the real economy.

PhD Student

Finance

Entrepreneurship and Startups

June 15th, 2022

To Make Your Organization Resilient, Think Like a Family Business

The ups and downs of economic cycles take most companies for dangerous roller-coaster rides, but family firms weather crises much better than their competitors. That's because they focus on resilience rather than on immediate performance. At a time when the global economy seems to experience crisis after crisis, lessons can be drawn from family firms, or non-family ones that behave (and survive) like them.

By Alain Bloch

Entrepreneurship and Startups

June 15th, 2022

Qatar More Resilient to Crises Thanks to Fast-Growing Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Qatar may have been significantly more resilient to the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic than other countries, thanks to its experience of economic blockade and a fast-growing digital entrepreneurship ecosystem that is actively transforming the country’s economy. This is the principal finding of a compelling new study led by Allan Villegas-Mateos, Research Associate at HEC Paris in Qatar.

Entrepreneurship and Startups

May 11th, 2022

When Design Thinking Clashes With the Existing Business Culture

Increasingly firms are seeking new methods to stimulate creativity in a fast-moving business climate. Many turn to design thinking — but with mixed results. New research by HEC Paris Professor Sihem BenMahmoud-Jouini and RISE Senior Researcher Lisa Carlgren sought to find out why this practice is successful for some companies and less so for others. A culture clash may be at the heart of many difficulties.

By Sihem Ben Mahmoud-Jouini

Entrepreneurship and Startups

October 01st, 2021

Gender Difference on Crowdfunding Platforms: What Pitches Work?

On prosocial crowdfunding platforms such as Kiva, which benefit low-income entrepreneurs, women-led campaigns tend to be significantly more successful than men's. To find out which specific gender dynamics explained this difference, HEC Paris professor Santosh B. Srinivas sought to sort out gender differences in the justifications for funding requests entrepreneurs made on the site.

By Santosh Srinivas

Entrepreneurship and Startups

October 01st, 2021

Building Back Better: Why Gender Diversity Needs to Be at the Heart of the Innovation Agenda

Innovation thrives in teams where diverse thinking is not only encouraged but proactively encouraged. Gender diverse teams are shown to have improved performance. Despite the evidence demonstrating the impact of diversity, we still witness mixed reactions to gender diverse teams with the situation exacerbated following the pandemic. As organizations are rebuilding after the initial waves of the pandemic, we focus on why gender diversity needs to be at the heart of this transformation.

Associate Professor

Diversity, Leadership, and Innovation

Entrepreneurship and Startups

June 03rd, 2021

Including and Managing Diversity: Interview with Researchers

In this interview with Knowledge@HEC, a dozen of professors and Ph.D. students from HEC Paris share the key findings of their latest research on diversity and inclusion. They also share insights for managing one’s career in challenging contexts and give analysis on how education and the new generations can change the workplace culture.

Ph.D. student

Strategy & Business Policy

Entrepreneurship and Startups

February 04th, 2021

6 minutes

Yes, Social Entrepreneurship Training Works

Social entrepreneurship is characterized by a deep commitment to a social cause and the desire to develop new business models with economic, social, and ecological impacts. But can people be trained to become better at social entrepreneurship? HEC Paris Professors Thomas Åstebro and Florian Hoos found that social entrepreneurship training works, but only if carefully designed.

By Thomas Åstebro , Florian Hoos