Conjoint analysis: A new methodological approach for researching the decision policies of venture capitalists

Abstract

Decision making is central to the ability of venture capitalists to predict those new ventures likely to succeed, yet most studies into their decision making use post-hoc methodologies that may generate biased results. People are poor at introspection and often suffer from recall and post-hoc rationalization biases among others. Therefore, researchers should consider using real-time methods that eliminate many of these biases. One such method is conjoint analysis. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the potential that conjoint analysis has to: (1) improve the validity of prior research into VCs' decision making; and (2) act as a catalyst for adopting conceptual tools from other disciplines that can be tested empirically. Both these functions have the purpose of increasing one's insight into the assessment policies of VCs.