Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0000-9808-4457

Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

DBA

College

Chambers College of Business and Economics

Committee Chair

Tianxu Chen

Committee Co-Chair

Ryan Angus

Committee Member

Hyeonsuh Lee

Committee Member

Jianhong Chen

Abstract

This study examines how founder-CEO status shapes the strategic orientation of corporate venture capital (CVC) activity. Drawing on upper echelons theory, I argue that founder-CEOs differ from non-founder CEOs in where they direct CVC investments, not simply in whether they engage in CVC at all. Using a panel of S&P 500 firms spanning 2004 through 2024, I test whether founder-CEOs pursue greater CVC activity overall and whether they concentrate that activity in ventures operating within the firm's core industry. Results from random-effects negative binomial regression models show that founder-CEO status is positively associated with core-industry CVC but not with investments directed outside the firm's core domain. This asymmetry suggests that founder influence operates as a mechanism of strategic filtering rather than broad investment activation founder-CEOs appear to allocate CVC through the lens of the firm's established competitive domain rather than expanding venturing activity indiscriminately. I further argue and find that CEO age positively moderates this relationship, such that the association between founder-CEO status and core-industry CVC orientation becomes stronger as founder-CEOs grow older. Marginal effects analysis shows that the founder-CEO effect on core-industry CVC becomes statistically significant around age 53 and increases steadily thereafter. These findings contribute to the CVC literature by redirecting attention from participation to orientation, extend upper echelons research by demonstrating that founder influence on external innovation strategy is conditional on CEO age, and offer a governance-based explanation for systematic variation in how firms allocate venture capital across investment domains.

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