Im Rahmen der FGF Best Research Paper Awards auf dem G-Forum 2025 in Stuttgart wurden herausragende wissenschaftliche Beiträge im Bereich Entrepreneurship, Innovation und Mittelstand ausgezeichnet.
In der Reihe „FGF Research Insights: Award Winners“ geben die Preisträgerinnen und Preisträger Einblicke in ihre Forschung, zentrale Erkenntnisse und die Relevanz ihrer Arbeiten für Wissenschaft und Praxis.
Die Interviews stehen sowohl als Video als auch in schriftlicher Form zur Verfügung.
Best Entrepreneurship Research Newcomer Award 2025
Interview mit Lara Hitgen (BTU)
In diesem Interview erläutert die Preisträgerin ihre ausgezeichnete Arbeit mit dem Titel „Reinforcing (dis)advantage in entrepreneurs’ networking strategies: Gender differences in efficiently networking with investors“ (Ko-Autorinnen: Prof. Dr. Katharina Scheidgen, BTU, Prof. Dr. Pisitta Vongswasdi, WHU) und gibt Einblicke in zentrale Ergebnisse und deren Bedeutung für Forschung und Praxis.
Video-Interview [Link folgt in Kürze]
Interview (Textversion)
FGF: What is the core focus of your award-winning paper?
Lara Hitgen: I should mention that our manuscript is still under review, but essentially our paper examines how networking strategies shape access to angel and venture capital funding. While prior research has implicitly focused on men and their networking strategies, we in contrast showcase how women and men do fundraising.
Based on 52 qualitative case studies, we identify three networking strategies: serendipitous, calculated, and trusted networking. We show that these strategies do not work equally well across genders. Calculated networking tends to work particularly well for men with access to relevant investor networks, as they benefit from vouching and endorsements. Women, in contrast, benefit from trusted networking where they build on prior relationships. In short, when men and women pursue the same networking strategies, this leads to different outcomes. We show why we believe this is the case.
FGF: What is the main contribution of your work to entrepreneurship research, and were there any findings that surprised you?
Lara Hitgen: What surprised me most was how powerful vouching is. By vouching, we mean network partners proactively referring founders to relevant investors, similar to strong personal endorsements. I had not expected that vouching could fundamentally alter a founder’s fundraising trajectory, but it indeed does, as investors place considerable weight on recommendations. What was particularly striking is that in our study vouching benefited only men. It allowed them to reach the right investors faster and to move more smoothly through the fundraising process.
Our main contribution is that we extend research on entrepreneurial networking by explaining why strategies identified in prior research may deliver different outcomes for women and men. For example, catalyzing strategies with casual dating described by Hallen and Eisenhardt in 2012 take men as the default do not consider women. We show that women engage in similar networking strategies as men but usually receive different responses. This suggests that investor reactions are biased due to gender role expectations, which in turn shape fundraising outcomes.
FGF: Why is your research particularly relevant right now?
Lara Hitgen: The gender gap in venture funding remains stark, as recent reports such as the Female Founder Monitor 2025 continue to show. Access to capital heavily depends on warm introductions within trusted circles and implicit process knowledge where men are often advantaged. Thus, understanding how networking advantages are created and sustained is particularly timely and impactful.
FGF: What practical or societal implications does your work have beyond academia?
Lara Hitgen: For founders, our study offers a more nuanced understanding of which networking strategies work and under which network starting conditions. Many entrepreneurs, especially those without prior access to startup or investor networks, assume that networking more is the solution. Our findings show that successful fundraising is often strategic and highly planned, and that more networking does not necessarily lead to better outcomes.
For investors and ecosystem builders, we highlight how mechanisms such as vouching can unintentionally promote inequality. By making these dynamics more visible, we hope to increase awareness of subtle biases that disadvantage women in accessing capital. I often say to my male friends in the startup ecosystem that they should actively vouch for their female colleagues. Therefore, if you have read up until here, please do so too!
FGF: What does receiving the Best Entrepreneurship Research Newcomer Award 2025 mean to you personally and for your academic journey?
Lara Hitgen: At this rather early stage of my Ph.D., the award is a little confidence boost for my team and myself. Winning it in my second year reflects the strong guidance of my supervisors and the value of constructive feedback from conferences and other researchers. My advice to fellow Ph.D. students would be: Visit conferences, it really helps!!
Beyond the recognition, the €1,000 prize from the Sparkasse Foundation had a very practical impact. It helped fund a study in Portugal, where I am currently conducting my second research project. After earlier academic experiences in Australia, doing my research here in Portugal shows the benefits of academia: having the freedom to not only ask your own questions, but to follow them wherever they lead. Thank you to everyone who makes this journey possible!
Vielen Dank für das Interview!