The Relevance of Entrepreneurship Ecosystems for Start-up Success: A Venture Capital Perspective

Three-dimensional research approaches examining start-up success have become increasingly important in entrepreneurial research. These approaches integrate the micro-level perspective on the entrepreneurial personality, the meso-level perspective on the business model, and the macro-level perspective on contextual factors. This study follows this three-dimensional approach and, building on current findings, examines the factors influencing digital start-up success from a venture capital investor's perspective. The focus here is specifically on the macro level. Based on success factor weightings and a qualitative analysis of expert interviews with venture capital (VC) investors, this study shows that only two of six contextual factors are deemed to be success-relevant: human capital and finances. Moreover, VC investors perceive the overall group of context factors (entrepreneurial ecosystem factors) to be the least relevant to entrepreneurial success compared to the other two groups of factors.