Learning from experience: Novice and serial immigrant entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley

Despite theoretical arguments for distinguishing between novice and serial entrepreneurs, empirical evidence on their differences remains inconclusive. This paper extends existing research, using a unique dataset of primarily immigrant Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. It finds that serial entrepreneurs displayed higher aspirations, embedded and diverse social networks, reliance on collaborators, access to external finance, and better performance, compared with novice entrepreneurs. Novices performed better with greater access to social capital and when collaborating with co-founders and advisors. Serial entrepreneurs reported higher performance when working alone. These findings contribute toward advancing our understanding of the value of experience on entrepreneurship, with theoretical and practical implications.