Parallel Experimentation as Entrepreneurial Strategy: Effects on Innovativeness, Exit and Resourcing

Our study examines how experimenting with multiple businesses simultaneously can drive startup performance. We hypothesize that entrepreneurs who experiment with multiple businesses simultaneously face two interrelated tradeoffs: firstly, experimentation allows these so-called portfolio entrepreneurs to generate more innovative startups, but at the same time, they are more resource-constrained than their peers. Secondly, the startups of portfolio entrepreneurs underperform in the short run but, given the benefits of experimentation and selection, outperform their peers in the long run. To test our hypotheses, we use linked employer-employee data for Finnish entrepreneurs between 1995 and 2015. Our findings support our hypotheses and, as such, provide new insight into the drivers of entrepreneurial performance.