Acquisitions are an important exit strategy for technology entrepreneurs and investors, but what can technology ventures do to increase their chances of achieving an acquisition? We draw on signaling theory to examine the role that market orientation plays behind acquisitions. We test our hypotheses in a sample of young biotechnology ventures, and our findings are three-fold. First, we show that a target's market orientation is an important direct driver of acquisitions, thus incorporating a marketing perspective into a literature that has hitherto focused primarily on technological and reputational factors. Second, we find a substitutive interaction effect between market orientation and new product development stage, indicating that for exits through acquisitions, a high level of market orientation can compensate for an early stage of product development. Third, a fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) shows that in some contexts, the monopoly power afforded by patents can further amplify the positive effect of market orientation on acquisition likelihood. Taken together, our findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of how different signals interact, and suggest that technology ventures should invest in market orientation early on in their life cycle.

收购是科技创业者和投资者的重要退出策略，但科技企业如何做才能增加实现收购的机会？我们利用信号理论来检验市场导向在收购背后所起的作用。我们在一个年轻的生物技术企业样本中测试了我们的假设，我们的发现有三方面。首先，我们表明目标的市场导向是收购的重要直接驱动因素，因此将营销视角纳入迄今为止主要关注技术和声誉因素的文献中。其次，我们发现市场导向和新产品开发阶段之间存在替代交互作用，表明对于通过收购退出，高度的市场导向可以弥补产品开发的早期阶段。第三，模糊集定性比较分析 (fsQCA) 表明，在某些情况下，专利提供的垄断权力可以进一步放大市场导向对收购可能性的积极影响。综上所述，我们的研究结果有助于更细致地了解不同信号如何相互作用，并建议科技企业应在其生命周期的早期就以市场为导向进行投资。