Ikenna Uzuegbunam

All in Good Time? Founders' Age, Gender, and Patenting in New Technology Ventures

Prior research has documented demographic differences in patenting within scientific and academic sectors, but limited scholarship has explored how founders’ age and gender composition affect patenting in the context of technology entrepreneurship, a setting where the formation and protection of intellectual property is of critical strategic importance. In this study, we investigate the age-related and gender mechanisms that underpin differences in patenting for technology entrepreneurs. We theorize that there is a curvilinear association between founders’ age and patenting, with distinct generational effects based on gender composition of the founding team. Leveraging a global sample of 2851 new technology ventures across several industries, our analysis supports our hypotheses and provides empirical evidence of the powerful role of gender heterogeneity in understanding the complex relationship between new venture team characteristics and innovation.

Do Corporate Investors Affect Entrepreneurs’ IP Portfolio? Entrepreneurial Finance and Intellectual Property in New Firms:

This study investigates the impact of corporate venture capital (CVC) funding on new firms’ subsequent intellectual property (IP) outcomes (i.e., patents, copyrights, and trademarks). The central premise is that CVC funding will encourage the development of technology-centric IP outcomes while dissuading the development of market-centric IP outcomes. Specifically, CVC investments entail a trade-off, which will increase post-funding patent/copyright output while decreasing post-funding trademark output in new firms. Findings from an analysis of a multi-industry sample of U.S. new firms provide broad support for this study thesis and suggest that the impact of CVC funding is contingent on entrepreneurs’ industry-specific experience.

Identity and initial structure in inter-firm alliances: a social identity perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how firms use the identities of their alliance partners in choosing initial governance structures in strategic alliances. It proposes that social identity from the perspective of an established firm participating in an inter-firm alliance can be constructed on the basis of ownership categories and market categories of the firm’s alliance partners. Design/methodology/approach – The study focusses on a sample of 478 alliances involving 36 focal firms in the US semiconductor industry over a nine-year period (1995-2003). The sample is analyzed using logistic regression methods. Findings – The author finds evidence suggesting that joint venture (JV) structures are more likely when an alliance has more partners that identify as privately held firms or subsidiaries of other firms. The results also suggest that JV structures are more likely when an alliance involves strong product market identity with partners and less likely when an alliance involves strong geogr...