Betting on the Coachable Entrepreneur: Signaling and Social Exchange in Entrepreneurial Pitches
Michael P. Ciuchta, Chaim Letwin, Regan Stevenson, Sean McMahon, M. Nesij Huvaj
Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice · 2018 · Volume 42 · Issue 6
Abstract
Given that stakeholders often commit more than capital to a startup, they commonly stress how important it is for entrepreneurs to be “coachable.” To date, however, coachability has received little attention in entrepreneurship research. We address this gap by first establishing the entrepreneurial coachability construct and validating a measurement scale. Then, drawing on social exchange and signaling theories, we develop and test a novel framework in which coachability influences a potential investor’s willingness to invest. We find that entrepreneurial coachability functions as a viable signal in a pitch setting, but this impact is conditional on the investor’s prior coaching experience.
Keywords
coachability, new venture finance, social exchange theory
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