Entrepreneurial team formation and evolution in technology ventures: Looking beyond the top management team

Drawing on a stage-based and knowledge-based view, this study investigates the process of team evolution in technology-ventures, paying attention to top managers and other team members. In-depth analysis of six cases shows that team evolution is linked to the changing knowledge needs technology-ventures face when proceeding through different development stages. In each stage, they add (a) complementary or (b) more of the same knowledge to their existing knowledge base by hiring top managers as well as non-top management employees, and redirect team members whose knowledge is no longer crucial. In particular, the study highlights the crucial role of non-top management employees for technology-ventures’ development.