The influence of founder-CEOs human capital on SME performance: Founder perceptions in the video game industry

Abstract

Understanding the link between new venture success and the human capital possessed by the firm's chief executive officer has in the past been a frequent research area. How founders view the importance of the executives knowledge has not, however, gained much attention from scholars. This thesis examines how founders of small firms view industry specific- and general business knowledge possessed by the CEO and the importance of this for their firms and the how this relates to the findings of previous research. In order to understand how founders perceive the importance of CEO knowledge, interviews with founders of video game development firms have been conducted. The results shows that most founders view CEOs possession of both industry specific knowledge and general business knowledge as important in order for firms to become successful, perceptions based to a large extent on their view of the industry as being complex and unique. Their views are also largely consistent with the findings of previous research. The thesis concludes with a section on future research.