Enhancing Corporate Governance in High-Growth Entrepreneurial Firms

Abstract

This study explores how new ventures access advice to achieve high growth and sustainable performance. A relational model of three important themes — compliance (regulatory and legal governance), contacts (networks of suppliers, customers, investors), and content (strategic insights) — emerged as critical to any sustainable high-growth effort. Our findings suggest that advisory boards and boards of directors have a significant role in managing and creating value for emerging high-growth firms due to inherently high failure rates, technological complexity, and market risk — all of which requires access to external resources.