ABSTRACT

The nascent research on crowdfunding has highlighted the importance of social capital for entrepreneurs seeking to finance their ventures. However, the question of whether social capital can be leveraged through strategic partnerships remains unexplored. Using a sample of over 39,000 projects (out of which only 1,058 projects list partners in their crowdfunding pitches), we discover that partners have an overwhelmingly positive impact on fundraising outcomes. In particular, crowdfunders respond positively to a partner’s past success and level of focus. Interestingly, greater prior success of a partner is always better whereas simply increasing focus may not always lead to superior outcomes.

摘要

关于众筹的新兴研究强调了社会资本对于寻求为其企业融资的企业家的重要性。然而，是否可以通过战略合作伙伴关系来利用社会资本的问题仍未得到探索。使用超过 39,000 个项目的样本（其中只有 1,058 个项目在其众筹宣传中列出了合作伙伴），我们发现合作伙伴对筹款结果具有压倒性的积极影响。特别是，众筹者对合作伙伴过去的成功和专注程度做出积极回应。有趣的是，合作伙伴先前取得的更大成功总是更好，而仅仅增加注意力可能并不总是会带来更好的结果。