Sandy Yu

Abstract

Accelerators such as Techstars, Startup Chile, and Y Combinator are an increasingly prevalent part of the entrepreneurial landscape. Recent studies have found that certain top accelerators have positive and substantial effects on startup growth and funding, as well as the speed by which entrepreneurs shutdown less-promising startups. Unclear from prior literature, though, is whether and how such accelerators might also influence entrepreneurs’ future career activities beyond their current startup. For scholars and policy makers, this question may offer insight into whether accelerators and their practices generate long-term entrepreneurial capabilities or encourage other activities key to a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem. We examine our question using proprietary data on the entrepreneurs accepted and “almost accepted” to a set of top accelerators that have been previously found to impact startup development. Unexpectedly, we find substantial heterogeneity in how these accelerators affect entrepreneurs’ long-term careers. Across both founding and joining activities, we observe both positive and negative effects that vary by accelerator. Overall, our results contribute at the intersection of research on entrepreneurial development programs and entrepreneur careers, showing that there may often be a decoupling between a program’s impact on a startup versus its impact on the entrepreneurs behind that startup.