Collaboration Among Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists

Regional differences among industry clusters have long been a puzzle, especially when performance differences are significant. This chapter examines the case of venture capital investing, in which Silicon Valley differs from the rest of the world despite attempts to imitate its model. The point of entry in this chapter is the contract between venture capitalist and entrepreneur. Although such contracts have been analyzed in other research, this chapter argues that the psychological effects of different contract styles are of primary importance to innovative outcomes of entrepreneurial ventures. Thus, it argues that regulatory focus theory, which considers the psychological effects of contracting, is essential to understanding differences in practice and outcomes in venture capital clusters.