Gender, Ethnic, and Functional Diversity’s Effect on Venture Performance: A Dynamic Venture Life-cycle Perspective

There is contradictory and inconclusive evidence about the roles of gender, ethnic, and functional diversity in venture performance. Some studies show positive effects and others negative, but most studies use different venture performance measures, making it difficult to draw general conclusions. This thesis seeks to clear up contradictions and help explain prior findings by introducing a life-cycle stage perspective, using a variety of venture performance measures as integration points that map the different goals and objectives of ventures in each stage. Twelve hypotheses capture predictions about gender, ethnic, and functional diversity effects on venture performance through the dynamic effect of venture life-cycle stages (start-up, growth, maturity, and decline and/or innovation). I use a sample of high-tech ventures that participated in a Techstars accelerator program between 2007 and 2018 to test the hypotheses. Results suggest that looking at gender, ethnic, and functional diversity effects on venture performance through the dynamic lens of life-cycle stage theory makes it possible to generalize findings and come up with more precise conclusions about how each of the three types of diversity affects venture performance during each life-cycle stage.