intermezzo ventures research

The assessment of entrepreneurial teams seeking to raise capital for new ventures or MBI/MBO transactions is acknowledged as one of the most important factors in Venture Capital and Private Equity transactions. However, very little empirical research has been conducted to determine what factors minimise risk and more importantly, increase the chances of success. In order to gain a more in depth understanding of this phenomenon Intermezzo Ventures in partnership with Henley Management College are conducting a study into the characteristics of venture backed entrepreneurial teams of both new ventures and MBO/MBIs. Initial working papers can be down loaded via the panel opposite.

An initial pilot study was conducted during the second half of 2005 and as a result the overall time required to collect data on individual team members has now been reduced by half to approximately 45 minutes. This study requires all members of a participating venture's entrepreneurial team (i.e. the venture's founders and/or current senior management team members) to complete a short questionnaire on their background and experience, followed by an additional questionnaire which will assess individual styles and preferences. Both of these questionnaires are accessible via Intermezzo Ventures' website and can be completed online in the individuals own time.

All participating team members will receive a FREE copy of their individual assessments undertaken as part of the research programme, including an overall team role profile. Under normal circumstances companies could expect to pay several thousand pounds to undertake this type of team assessment. These assessments should prove useful for the purposes of team building and continuous professional development.

The output from this study is intended to help venture capitalists, private equity fund managers and business angel networks to enhance their investment decision making processes. The findings should also prove useful to lead entrepreneurs when assembling management teams capable of founding high growth companies and attracting appropriate financing.

If you are an MD/CEO of a venture backed management team and would like to take part in this study please email john.cavill@intermezzo-ventures.com to register your interest, including your company name and contact details. Participating companies should be privately held, have raised an initial round of funding (Business Angel or Venture Capital) at least three years ago, and be headquartered in the U.K. or Ireland. Intermezzo is also interested in working closely with venture capital/private equity fund managers or business angels who would like to see their portfolio companies included in this study.

PLEASE NOTE: All individual and company specific data collected during this study will be treated as strictly confidential. Only anonymous aggregated data will be published at the end of this study in the form of a doctoral thesis, along with an executive summary covering key findings.

In parallel with the study into the Characteristics of Entrepreneurial Teams, a second study is also being conducted into the Characteristics of Ultrapreneurs. For the purpose of this study Ultrapreneurs are considered to be highly successful entrepreneurs who have succeeded in generating a personal capital gain in excess of £10million from their business ventures.

This study will attempt to model ‘best in class’ lead entrepreneurs who have built high performing ventures and entrepreneurial teams that have demonstrated their ability to generate exceptional ROI for their shareholders. Included in this study are some of the highly successful entrepreneurs that feature in the Sunday Times Rich List.

The output from this study is intended to help venture capitalists, private equity fund managers and business angel networks to more easily recognise new ‘A class’ lead entrepreneurs that they would wish to invest in. The findings should also prove useful to nacent entrepreneurs seeking to understand more fully what key personal characteristics are required to create high growth ventures and build high performance entrepreneurial teams.

PLEASE NOTE: All personal data collected during this study will be treated as strictly confidential. Only anonymous aggregated data will be published at the end of this study in the form of a Henley Working Paper.