Entrepreneurial Exit Strategies: the Impact of Human Capital

Although researchers in such diverse fields as economics and organizational sociology have explored firm exit, little research has explored entrepreneurial exit–the decision by the majority-owner founders of privately-held firms to harvest their profits and remove themselves from the primary ownership and decision-making structure of the firm. Yet, all entrepreneurs in one way or another will leave the firm they created. Using theories of goal-setting and human capital we explore two specific questions: (1) why do some entrepreneurs consider an exit strategy while others do not, and (2) under what conditions are entrepreneurs most likely to utilize a specific strategy.