Serial entrepreneur

Entrepreneurial learning

Serial entrepreneur firms are larger, grow more rapidly, and are more productive than those founded by first-time entrepreneurs. Shaw and Sørensen found serial entrepreneur firms have approximately 98% greater sales and are around 49% more productive than novice-founded firms after controlling for capital. De Vera and colleagues found, using economy-wide data from Portugal, that serial entrepreneur firms are approximately 50% larger, grow around 20% faster, and are about 23% more productive, with entrepreneur education and lower firm indebtedness the key drivers. Lafontaine and Shaw found that prior business closure strengthens rather than weakens subsequent performance, with sequential ownership producing stronger outcomes than concurrent ownership among small business owners. Burke also found that experienced entrepreneurs invest more frequently in new ventures as informal investors.