Hiring entrepreneurs for innovation

• Authors: Louise Lindbjerg and Theodor Vladasel
• Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 46, :3182–3217, August 2025.

What human capital do established organizations need to bring new ideas to market? Combining Danish registry and Community Innovation Survey data, we document a robust positive relationship between hiring former founders and firms’
sales from innovation. Entrepreneurs join smaller, younger firms (which exhibit larger effects), managerial skills and external industry founding experience matter, while other selection or human capital-based explanations appear muted. Founder hires especially enhance innovation when given middle management decision rights, for incremental offerings, and in innovation-active firms. Our collective findings indicate startup
experience equips founders with a generalist ability to acquire and mobilize resources around new ideas. By clarifying the nature of entrepreneurial human capital, we highlight a novel innovation input that helps firms unlock its commercial value.