Relational composition and member turnover of entrepreneurial founder teams at the nascent stage: a typology and empirical evidence

Abstract

Team composition matters in shaping entrepreneurial outcomes. Focusing on the preexisting relationships among team members, this study examines how the social relational structure of entrepreneurial founder team influences membership turnover. After distinguishing entrepreneurial teams into family-only, non-family only, and family/non-family mixed ones, the study explores the possibility that family ties can serve as a glue in family-only teams, while they can become a source of schism in teams mixed with family and non-family members. Using data from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics, this research finds that familyonly teams have a stable and rigid relational structure with low levels of both member exit and entry, while family/non-family mixed teams have the most vulnerable structure where members tend to leave but new members are unlikely to be recruited. Additionally, non-family teams have an unstable and fluidic structure with a high rate of both member exit and entry. These findings have implications for advancing our understanding of how social relational composition influences the organizational outcomes of entrepreneurial teams.