Exit and failure in technology start-ups: The effects of women entrepreneurs and managers

Eliran Solodoha, Stav Rosenzwe

Abstract

We examine the involvement of women entrepreneurs and managers in technology start-ups and their effects on the outcomes of start-up exits and failures. Using data on 3,743 Israeli start-ups, we find that the presence of women entrepreneurs and managers is negatively associated with the probability of exits but also of failures. We also find that increasing the numbers of both women entrepreneurs and managers in the start-up turns the effect on the probability of an exit positive but the probability of failure remains negative. We propose that the differences between women’s and men’s attitudes toward risk may explain these findings. We further suggest that for start-ups that plan exiting, employing women in a range of senior positions may be more effective than merely employing more women.