Institutionalizing portfolio entrepreneurship: the Venture Studio model

Abstract

Venture Studios (VSs) are organizations that create start-ups by acting as founders or co-founders and operating through standardized venture creation processes conducted in parallel. To examine this organizational model and delineate its distinctiveness from others, we developed a global database, conducted multiple case studies with twelve European VSs and two international networks, and administered a worldwide survey. Drawing on human capital and organizational learning perspectives, this study identifies the architectural characteristics and mechanisms through which VSs institutionalize portfolio entrepreneurship. Our findings reveal how VSs convert individual entrepreneurial expertise into organizationally codified human capital. In doing so, VSs extend entrepreneurial agency and cognition from individuals to organizations, offering an organizational model for parallel venture creation. Finally, we clarify how VSs complement other entrepreneurial actors by reducing early-stage uncertainty and generating validated, investment-ready ventures.