Högskolan Halmstad
School of Business and Engineering
Business Economics ,Marketing, C Level
2008

VENTURE CAPITAL- Important factors for venture capital investment decisions

Author: Fatma Ulu

Supervisor: Gabriel Awuah

Abstract
The decision process of venture capitalists has received much attention from researchers andit is a complex and unclear process. There are plenty of factors that affect venture capitalists`
investment decisions. The purpose of this study is to find out the important factors in the due
diligence process for the venture capital firms and venture capitalists during theirinvestments. The authors find it interesting to find out factors that influence venture
capitalists during their investment decisions according to due diligence process.
Qualitative method was seen suitable for this study. Three phone interviews were conductedwith three venture capital firms in Turkey named Is Private Equity, Ilab Ventures andBosphorous Group.
The authors find out management, market, location, product, industry and financial factors
are important factors for venture capitalists to decide whether to invest or not.

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Acknowledgements
Firstly, I would like to say that it was really didactic for me to write this dissertation. I learnt
a lot of thing about writing a dissertation and about my topic. Then I want to thank mysupervisor Gabriel Awuah for his constructive feedbacks, and efficient advices for the study.
Also I would like to thank the respondents of the interviews named Cem Sertoglu, Murat
Tasci and Mehmet Calika. Especially I want to thank Ulf Hellquist, Matija Kraljevic whom
dissertation helped me to construct my dissertation.
Finally I would like to thank my friends and my family because of their support which
persuaded me to write this dissertation successfully.

iiTable of content
1 Introduction.........................................................................3
1.1 Introduction ................................................................3
1.2 Problem ....................................................................5
1.3 Purpose .....................................................................5
1.4 Delimitation.................................................................5

2 Theory ..................................................................................6
2.1 Venture Capital Decision Making and Investment Process ........6
2.2 The Venture Capital Process ......................................................6
2.2.1 Business Plans ...............................................7
2.2.2 Initial meeting..................................................8
2.2.3 Due diligence ..................................................8
2.2.3.1 Management.........................................8
2.2.3.2 Financials..............................................92.2.3.3 Market...................................................92.2.3.4 Product.................................................10.
2.2.3.5 Location...............................................112.2.3.6 Industry................................................11
2.3 Exit...............................................................................................12

3 Methodology ........................................................................13
3.1 Choice of Method........................................................13
3.2 Data Collection...........................................................14
3.3 Interview.....................................................................15
3.4 Types of research.................................................16
3.5 The sample selection process ...................................17
3.6 Validity and Reliability.................................................18

4 Empirical Study.....................................................................20
4.1 Factors that affecting venture capitalists during their investment decisions
according to due diligence process .............................20

5 Analysis..................................................................................24
5.1 Management...............................................................24
5.2 Financials....................................................................25
5.3 Market.........................................................................25
5.4 Product ......................................................................26
5.5 Location......................................................................27
5.6 Industry ......................................................................28

6. Conclusion..............................................................................29
References list............................................................................31

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Figures
Figure 1: The Venture capital process

TablesTable 1: Summary of the empirical findings in management area
Table 2: Summary of the empirical findings in financial area
Table 3: Summary of the empirical findings in market area
Table 4: Summary of the empirical findings in product area
Table 5: Summary of the empirical findings in location area
Table 6: Summary of the empirical findings in industry area

Appendix
Appendix- A: Interview questions that were asked to venture capitalists2

1 INTRODUCTION
In this part some information about the topic will be given. Also this section will continue
with the problem discussion, purpose and delimitation parts.

1.1 Introduction
According to a definition of National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) “Venture capital(VC) is money provided by professionals who invest alongside management in young,rapidly growing companies that have the potential to develop into significant economic
contributors. Venture capital is an important source of equity for start-up companies.
Professionally managed venture capital firms are generally private partnerships or closelyheld corporations funded by private and public pension funds, endowment funds,
foundations, corporations, wealthy individuals, foreign investors, and the venture capitalists
themselves.”1
Venture capital is a form of “risk capital and it is not a recent concept. The history of venture
capital reaches until middle-age that was known as “mudaraba” in Islamic World and was
known as “commenda” in Europe. But in modern world, first it appeared in USA in1950s. In
1946, venture capital investments gained institutional quality with the foundation ofAmerican “Research and development Corporation of Boston” (Okuyan, Çalışkan 2000). In
1958 a set of studies were done about small firms by “Federal Reserve System” and as aresult of this “Small Business Investment Act” was effective. After that small scale private
sector firms called “Small Business Investment Company” were formed. These kinds of firms
performed a great role in the improvement of venture capital sector and especially in 1980s
this model was applied very frequently. The model of venture capital is a consequence ofknowledge age and the concept of economy which is based on knowledge (Okuyan, Çalışkan
2000)
In the past two decades venture capital industry in United States has shown an incredible
growth. Many of the big companies which include Genentech, Google, Apple, Microsoft,
Intel and Lotus have been backed by venture capital funds. This development has led toincreasing attention to venture capital industry from all over the world. (Gompers P.A and
Lerner J. 2004)
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http://www.nvca.org/def.html

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Today the success of venture capital firms depends on their ability of predicting new firm
performance during a multi-stage evaluation process of investment proposals. The researches
show that VC firms‟ expertness in removing bad investment proposals led VC-backed
businesses to achieve higher survival rates than non-VC- backed firms (Sandberg 1986,
Timmons 1994). Also venture capitalists (VCs) can be seen as experts in identifying highpotential new ventures- gazelles (Zacharakis A.L, and Shepherd D.A. 2001). Therefore thissituation has led to increasing attention to the evaluation process of VCs by the researchcommunity of entrepreneurship and finance (Wells 1974, Poindexter 1976, Tyebjee andBruno 1984, MacMillan et al. 1985, Sandberg et al. 1988, Muzyka et al. 1996, Zacharakis
and Meyer 1998). Still most of the studies about VC decision- making still focus on decision
criteria`s that can be central of selecting gazelles (Zacharakis, A.L., Shepherd, D.A. 2001).
However VC investment process is a complex and unclear process (Benoit, 1975). It is still
not obvious that how and on what basic factors the venture capitalists make their investment
decisions (Hill & Power, 2001). According to Roberts (1991) each venture capital firm
follows its own guidelines and rules and this create uncertainty. Wu (1988) states that venture
capitalists invest in people and their ability. Zacharakis & Meyer (1998) do not agree with
Wu (1988). They found that market characteristics are the main determinate of the venture
capitalist process to make investment. Also they defined market characteristics as market
competition and market familiarity. Tybjee & Bruno (1984) and Shepard (2000) agreed withthe findings of Zacharakis & Meyer (1998). But they also found that size of investment, cashout potential, and product differentiation are the other important factors in venture capitalists
investment decisions. In additionally, Zacharakis & Meyer (1998) found that “businessplans” is another important factor in investment decisions. Venture capitalist can makesuccessful investment decisions by using information in a business plan.
There are plenty of factors which can influence venture capitalists investment decision. But
as it can be seen, there is no consensus in this field. One question can come into mind; why is
it so important to understand the venture capitalist investment process? According toShepherd et.al (2000) there are two reasons of this situation. Firstly, understanding theventure processes in which capability predict firms performance could be strategic beneficial.
Secondly the main actors of the today`s economy have the basis which was created by theventure capitalist for the start-up firms.

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1.2 Problem
What are the factors that influence venture capitalists during their investment decisions
according to due diligence process?

1.3 Purpose
As mentioned in the introduction part, the venture capital investment decision process is acomplex and ill-defined process. There are a lot of factors which affect venture capitalists
investment decisions. Therefore the purpose of this dissertation is to find out the importantfactors in the due diligence process for the venture capital firms and venture capitalists during
their investments.

1.4 Delimitation
When the topic comes to the venture capital there are a lot of things to talk about. The
literatures study, explore and take hand in the topic from the different perspectives. The
venture capital process consists of business plans, initial meetings and due diligenceprocesses. After these three steps, venture capitalists give investment decisions (Fichera,
2001). This study is limited with due diligence process. The important factors in the due
diligence process that influence venture capitalists during their investment decisions will befound out. The study will not focus on business plans and initial meeting processes. There
will be just short explanations about them to understand the due diligence process clearly.
Detailed information will be given about due diligence factors that include management,
market, financials, product, location and industry.

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2 THEORYIn this part, venture capital investment process will be introduced. Also this part will be areference for the author‟s empirical findings.

2.1 Venture Capital Decision Making and Investment Process
Since 1970s most of the academic researchers tried to describe and understand venture
capitalists` decision making process (Jorge Silva, 2004). The primary objective of theseresearches is to determine how venture capitalists can evaluate potential investments (Tybjee
and Bruno 1981, Kahn 1987). The previous studies typically ask venture capitalists to list andrank decision criteria that affect their investment decisions (Tyebjee and Bruno 1981, Kahn
1987). These criteria generally relate to the quality of the entrepreneur/team, uniqueness ofthe product/service, attractiveness of the market as well as financial considerations (cf.
Tyebjee and Bruno 1984, MacMillan et al. 1985, 1987).
During making investment decisions, venture capitalists use several information sources
such as business plans, outside consultants, and due diligence. Venture capitalists cannot
make accurate decision to their investment process whether they cannot understand it truly.
Hence they may suffer from a systematic bias which obstructs their investment portfolio(Zacharakis, A. & Meyer, D.G. 1998). So VC investment process is a complex and unclear
process (Benoit, 1975).
The venture capital investment process start with the decision of venture capitalists: if they
will invest or not. If the venture is successful venture with good returns and capital gains, theventure capitalists will invest in that company. But if the venture is an unsuccessful venturewith no return, venture capitalists will not invest in that company (Zacharakis and Meyer,2000).

2.2 Venture Capital Process
According to Fichera (2001) venture capitalists follow a specific process called “Venture
capital process” to make their investment decisions.

6Figure 1 The Venture capital process, Fichera, 2001, page 292
The first step of the Venture capital process is viewing business plans. The second step ismaking a personal meeting with entrepreneurs and this step is called initial meeting. Due
diligence follows these two steps and it is the process of verifying the facts about thecompany under investigation. After these three steps venture capitalists give their investment
decisions.
2.2.1 Business Plans
The first step of the venture capital process is screening a business plan. A business plan is a
written instruction which describes and analysis companies` businesses and covers financial
aspects of it by giving detailed information about its future (Mike P. McKeever, 2007). Every
year around 10 million business plans are written around de world (Gumpert, 2002). The
findings of the Deloitte & Touche (2004) shows the executive summary is the briefest andmost important part of a business plan. It covers all of the key points and it determines to be
candidate of venture capitalists before read further. Particularly some researches show that
venture capitalists set up their judgement chiefly on the first few pages of a plan (Shepherd
and Zacharakis, 2001)..

According to Mike P. McKeever (2007) business plans help

companies to provide money, to decide to proceed or stop, improve their business concept,
improve odds of success, and helps them to keep on track.

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2.2.2 Initial Meeting
The second step of the venture capital process is initial meeting with the entrepreneurs.
According to David Gladstone (2001) the venture capitalists hold a meeting withentrepreneur to accomplish three basic objectives. These objectives are to get more
information about the business and how it will make money, to evaluate management team ina face-to-face situation, and to “cut the deal”, which means to structure the investment, andultimate the goal of the meeting. If entrepreneurs do not discuss at least preliminary structureof the investment with venture capitalists during the meeting, they will probably lose theinvestment. Especially during the meeting entrepreneurs should give information to venture
capitalists about all aspects of the business, the amount of money they need, and what theyplan to do with that money. (David Gladstone 2001). Wu (1988) states a personal meetingwith entrepreneurs can be a critical factor to attract venture capitalists attention and interest.
2.2.3 Due DiligenceDue diligence is the third step of the venture capital process after having business plans andhaving a meeting with entrepreneurs. In this process, venture capitalists work to informthemselves regarding the companies they considered for investment. Venture capitalists use
due diligence process to make better investment decisions and thereby improve the returns of
their venture capital portfolios (Camp, 2002).

Due diligence is consist of analysis ofmanagement team, financials, market, product, location and industry (Camp, 2002).
2.2.3.1 Management
After the initial meeting, in the due diligence process, venture firms collect more facts about
the entrepreneurs as well as facts about the management team in general (Camp, 2002).
Management can add more value to an acquisition than almost everything. Most of theprivate equity investors‟ decisions on whether invest or not to invest in a target are given by
their views on the management (Peter Howson, 2003). Early stage venture capital companies
seldom have complete management teams which are ready to manage without help from thefirst moment. These kinds of companies often must look for a management support from theoutside until their management teams can be completely filled out. According to famous
venture capitalist Arthur Rock, venture capitalists substantially decrease the risk of theportfolio company failure by investing in companies which have top-quality management
resources (Camp, 2002).
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According to Camp (2002) most of the venture capitalists want to invest in high quality
people. High quality people should have some characteristics which include integrity,
intellectual honesty, intellectual brilliance, and interpersonal skills. Wu (1988) found thatmanagement team should understand the entire business in order to survive and grow thecompany. Shepherd et al. (2000) found with an investigation that industry related competence
is important as well as educational capability. Muzyka et al. (1996) make an investigation
around Europe with 51 venture firm and determined leadership ability of the entrepreneur andthe management team is the most important factor.
2.2.3.2 Financials
When the topic comes to due diligence business people think of financial due diligence of an
acquisition because it is one of the most important concentrated effort. Financial due
diligence contains all of the views of revenues, expenses, and investments throughout with areview of a cash flows, profitability, dividend policy, tax status and unit costs in order toevaluate or confirm the financial health of the firm. Financial due diligence is related with theother efforts of the due diligence because all efforts have financial impacts and branches(John E. Triantis, 1999).
According to Camp (2002) and Cardis et al. (2001) the amount of capital required and sought
after, valuation and exit are the financial factors which influence the venture capitalists
investment decisions. Venture capitalists want to know how much capital is sought after by
the start up and how much capital required for the investment (Camp, 2002). Venture
capitalists generally prefer low value companies because low value companies maximize
their ownership as well as return their investments (Camp, 2002). The third factor, exit, isanother important factor for venture capitalists that they give importance. According to
Cardis et al. (2001) if there is not a possibility to exit in an acceptable timeframe (3-5 years),
they do not want to make an investment. Tybjee & Bruno (1984) stated in their study, size ofthe investment and ability important factors for the venture capitalists` investment decisions.
Muzyka et al (1996) also found that exit is an important factor but they also found, fit withthe fund and time to break are important factors in investment decisions.
2.2.3.3 Market
The comprehension of market due diligence extends from point where technology ends towhere finance begins (John E. Triantis, 2003).According to J. Camp (2002) venture
capitalists invest in a particular technology or a particular market more than companies. On
the other hand the enormous breadth of markets and speed of innovation make these kinds of9

investment difficult because for them gathering information about all market spaces arealmost impossible.
In the event of market factor, venture capitalists look for tremendous factors that affect theirdecisions. Golis (2002) and Fichera (2001) mentioned about market size, market growth andmarket share. Fichera (2001) accented venture capitalists want to invest in markets which are
not large today but will improve in the future, briefly they prefer emerging and new markets.
Wu (1988) pointed out niche markets has a better chance of survival. Zacharakis and Meyer(1998) make a study in US venture capital firms and they found to crucial factors which
affect venture capital investment decisions. They are market growth and market size.
However Tybjee & Bruno (1984) made a study in US and they found market accessibility,
market need, low barriers to entry and markets that are not price sensitive are importantfactors in investment decision in addition to market growth and market size. Camp (2002)
mentioned venture capital firms want to invest in markets that have potential to be large
markets in the future.
2.2.3.4 ProductProduct is another important factor in venture capital due diligence process. New producttechnologies can revitalize old industries or create completely new industries (Zahra 1996a).
According to Tyebjee and Bruno (1984) venture capitalists invest in products to services, theindustrial to the consumer market and nascent to the mature technology. There are number offactors that venture capitalists look when the topic comes to the product. Tyebjee and Bruno(1984) found that the product differentiation, patentability and uniqueness are importantfactors to give investment decisions. Elango et al. (1995) found in their study highly
differentiated product are chosen by venture capitalists as well as patents. Camp (2002) statedtime to market, time to get the product to market, is another important decision factor for the
product. Limited time period for start up to take advantage of market opportunities therefore
they should get the product as soon as possible in order to be successful.
According to Fichera (2001) uniqueness and differentiation are important factors while
applying a product. Golis (2002) found that simplicity is important. Product with a firstmover advantage, high barriers to entry and patents are important factors according to Cardis
et al. (2001) for the venture capitalists in their investment decisions.

102.2.3.5 Location
Location is another important factor for venture capitalists decision making in due diligenceprocess. The researchers emphasized about location and its effects on relationship at least
since 1950s (Terri L. Griffith, Patrick J. Yam & Suresh Subramaniam, 2007). Zook (2002)
stated that he knows venture capital firms that say if they cannot drive within an hour, they do
not make the investment. Camp (2002) stated many venture capital firms will only invest incompanies that are located two hours away and located in adjacency to suitable infrastructurechannels. Venture capital investments are shown a cluster in geographical regions. The
benefits of this geographical tendency are seen as reduced transportation costs, access to
skilled labour markets, communication networks, sophisticated customers, access totechnology (Powell et al., 2002), and knowledge flows more generally (Owen-Smith andPowell, 2004). Porter & Stern (2001) pointed out additional benefits of co-location: local
context that encourages investment in innovation, competition among local rivals, and ample
supply of risk capital. Especially they found innovation is strongly affected by location. Also
Tybjee & Bruno (1984) stated that geographic location is an important factor.
Elango et al. (1995) found that location is an important factor for smaller venture firms.
Larger venture firms, which generally make large scale investments, are not influenced by thelocation as small scale investments, which refer to as a local market. On the other hand
Muzyka et al (1996) found that location is not a necessary factor for the venture capitalists
investment decisions.
2.2.3.6 Industry
Industry is an important factor in venture capital investment decisions. Wustenhagen andTeppo (2006) searched that “do venture capitalists really invest in good industries” bylooking risk-return characteristics of venture capital investment opportunities in sectors andthey found that venture capitalists give importance to the industries during investment
decisions. Their study was based on energy sectors. They found sectors like information andcommunication technologies and biotech account for two-thirds of all VC investments. While
there are sizeable investment opportunities, only 5% of all venture capitalists choose to invest
in energy sector.
The most of venture capitalists focus on high technology industry sectors (Gompers &Lerner, 2004). Evanson (1998) stated that venture investments are time limited, and venture
capitalists will only be able to make good decision if they focus on industries that they have11

deep knowledge about. Also Camp (2002) stated being knowledgeable about industries isvery important for venture capitalists to completely understand their investment opportunities
and to make sound investment decisions. According to Fichera (2001) venture capitalists
make investment in high- technology sectors because of strong and quick growth features ofthese industries. Allen (2003) stated high technology industries include higher risk thanothers but it brings more benefits and rewards to the company.

2.3 Exit
The venture investments always have a time limit (Issoksson, 1999). Investors want to take acapital gain and maximise their return on the investment therefore they aim to sell theirshares and exit. Depending upon the venture capitalists` investment strategy, VC firms exit in
3-4 years to 10 years (Bygrave and Timmons, 1992).

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3 METHODOLOGY
Methodology is an approach, that shows the way of collecting information and data, and it
contains the methods, procedures and techniques.
In this part, the methodological aspects will be explained to reach the objectives of thedissertation. Also this part will show the way of working throughout the dissertation andhow this study is performed. On the other hand qualitative and quantitative approach,primary and secondary data validity and reliability will be discussed in this chapter.

3.1 CHOICE of METHOD
Qualitative and Quantitative approach
According to Malhotra (1999) a qualitative research provides understanding of the problem
setting. Qualitative method is used to gather information which cannot be quantified that
implies directly observed and measured information such as feelings, thoughts, intentions andbehaviour (Aaker, Kumar & Day, 1998).
Qualitative approach is for understanding people`s beliefs, experiences, behaviour andinteractions. It is not numerical, e.g. a patient`s description of their pain rather than a measureof pain. In qualitative method there is an opportunity to look at the study in depth anddetailed information about a much smaller number of people and cases. In this method
researchers are interested in informants and their contexts, and putting the information in areference time frame for interpretation in a broader sense. It increases the rate of thepossibility to understand the research cases and situations. But it reduces the generalization.
Also in qualitative research the researchers think that if something occurred for one time it
can occur again even it is not possible to calculate the time and the place. Qualitative research
gives high flexibility since the problem can be changed during the process and it is an open
research.
Quantitative research seeks to quantify the data and, typically, applies some form ofstatistical analysis (Malhotra, 1999).

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Quantitative research is based on numerical data or data can be converted into numerical
data. Quantitative research estimates and quantifies the relationship between independent
variables and dependent variables. Variables are things as time, performance, behaviours etc.
And these variables can be used for human, animal, plant and object etc. In this kind ofresearch, researchers talk about average, frequency, causality, prediction and statistics. Also
the researchers collect data and information under investigation and often use standardized
tests and do replication studies. Especially quantitative research can answer on questions as„when‟, „who‟, „how much‟ but not answer questions like „why‟ and „how‟.
In this study qualitative research method were chosen.

3.2 DATA COLLECTION“Data are the basic input for any decision making process in a business. The processing ofdata gives statistics of importance of the study. Data can be classified into as primary dataand secondary data” (R. Panneerselvam, 2004 pg: 30, 31)
Primary and secondary data
“Primary data is information specifically collected for the clear purpose and in direct
response to a problem that has arisen and which is being investigated (Pando C. Papantoniou
1992 pg: 275)
At this type of data collection the researcher collects the information through the research forthe first time and all of the information is new. Primary data is used for specific purpose andusing this kind of data is usually expensive and it takes more time than secondary data. Someof the different methods of collecting primary data are observation methods, personal
interviews, telephone interviews, case studies, mail surveys, dairies, critical incidents andportfolio etc.

“Secondary data are collected from sources which have been already created for the purposeof first time and features uses” (R. Panneerselvam, 2004).
Using secondary data takes less cost, time and effort. Sometimes more correct and certain
data can be available just from secondary data. They provide mass information about the
topic. However there are some disadvantages of these kinds of data. Sometimes they
completely do not fit the problem, they can be useful for someone else`s purpose, and maybe
they can create a problem with their accuracy .Secondary sources will be divided in two

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parts. They are internal and external sources. Internal sources are sales records, marketing
activity, cost information, distributor reports and feedback, and customer feedback. Externalsources are government publications, foreign government publications, journals, books,
magazines, newspaper, internet web pages, annual reports, research reports in universities,
industry handbook, publications of statistics, and census data.
Chosen data-

Secondary data: The literature studies related to venture capital and private equity,internet web pages, articles, journals, and previous student thesis were used as
secondary sources. Especially one of the old theses of Jönköping University helped
the author to choose the topic and reach the related sources about the issue.

-

Primary data: To get primary data, four phone interviews were conducted with four
venture capital and private equity firms. The interview questions were based on theventure capital investment decision process.

3.3 INTERVIEWInterviews are useful methods for qualitative researches to obtain information and opinionsfrom experts during the research project. According to Welman and Kruger (2001) the
primary advantages of interviews are the opportunity of instant feedback, the unlimited
possibility to ask different types of questions and to adapt the interviews to each specificsituation. Generally three types of interviews are mentioned (Nicholas S. R. Walliman, 2006):-

Structured Interview: In this type standardized questions are read out by theinterviewer according to an interview schedule. In a structured interview the questions
are clearly structured and formal.

-

Unstructured interview: It is a flexible format. It is usually based on a question guidebut where the format remains the choice of the interviewer, who can allow theinterview to ramble in order to get insides into the attitudes of interviewee. In thistype close format questions are not used.

-Semi-structured interview: This type is formed from structured and unstructured
sections with standardized and open-format questions.

In this dissertation three phone interviews were conducted. The structured interview format
with open-end question was asked to the respondents. Open-end questions enable respondents
to transfer their feelings and opinions clearly. Structured questions let author to ask allquestions in an orderly and regular way and provide to take answers from all of them.

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Questions to the respondents were listed in Appendix A. There are six questions and thequestions are based on the information which was given in the theory part. The questions
were asked to the respondents in Turkish and then the answers were translated in English.
Firstly author called some venture capital firms and explained the situation. But all ofthem wanted to see the questions. Then a draft of the questions and a short explanation
about the author and about the aim of the study were sent to the respondents through an email. This gave an opportunity to the respondents to understand if they could answer thequestions or not and to be prepared for the answers of the questions. After that they sent
an e-mail that showed they would answer the questions. Finally the answers of thequestions were taken through a phone conversation. The duration of the interviews wasnearly one hour with each company. The answers were written on papers during theconversation.

3.4 TYPES of RESEARCH
As Yin (1993) stated a research methodology starts by identifying some types of research.
They are exploratory, explanatory and descriptive researches.
-

Exploratory research: It helps to understand the problem for making primary
hypothesis in order to draw a kind of directions that has to be fallowed (Aaker, 2001).
But an exploratory research needs a conclusion. Otherwise it will just give a small
stock of knowledge about what can be expected. This type of research determines thebest research design, data collection method and selection of subjects.

-

Explanatory research: “It can be defined as a method or style of research in which theprincipal objective is to know and understand the trait and mechanisms of therelationship and association between the independent and dependent variable.”2-

Descriptive research: It is a collection of data which can be used to test hypotheses oranswer questions about the opinions of people about some topic or issue. It is possible
to say most of the research studies are descriptive. The purpose of a descriptive
research is to gain information from all members of sample or population.
In this dissertation descriptive research has been used to find out the main points forventure capitalists` in investment decision process.

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http://www.blurtit.com/q415229.html 01.08.2008

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3.5 THE SAMPLE SELECTION PROCESSIn qualitative studies the selection is not statistically secured because it is not capable torepresent whole population (Corbin & Strauss, 1998).
At the beginning, the aim of the author was to find some venture capital firms in Europe andmake an interview with them. To achieve this, about 25 e-mails were sent to 10 venture
capital firms` e-mail addresses. But most of them did not answer the e-mails. Some of themanswered but they explained they cannot answer the question because they have a lot of thesekinds of e-mails which includes interviews. Then the plan changed and author tried to findsome venture capital firms in Turkey. It was difficult to find venture capital companies in
Turkey. Finally six venture firms were found through a report of Nesrin Sirvan`s guide called
Venture Capital and feasibility of it in Turkey and communicated with all of them. It waseasier to communicate with Turkish companies because it was easier and cheaper to call anddeal with them. Six e-mails were sent to six different venture capital firms but just three ofthem agreed to participate in the study. They are; Is Private Equity, Ilab Ventures andBosphorous Venture Group. The author selected these three companies because they are mostdeveloped venture capital firms in Turkey. A short presentation will be given about thecompanies which took part in the study.
Is Private Equity is a capital market institution which is linking entrepreneurs to the capital
markets. It`s investment operations began at 5 October at 2000. It is Turkey`s largest private
equity fund with US 29.3% million. They focus on healthcare and pharmaceuticals, building
materials, chemicals, retail, education, tourism, energy, and TMT (Technology, media andTelecom). Their head office is located in Istanbul. There are 10 companies in their portfolio.
Their mission is to provide management know-how and capital to the companies that operate
in high growth sectors and have a competitive advantage in order to support them during theirprojects that will create value for Turkish economy.
The interview was conducted with Murat Tasci on the 25 July 2008. He is the analyst of the
Is Private equity.
Ilab Ventures was founded on April 2000. Their aim is to invest in companies and projects
which have growth potential. They focused on internet. They prefer to invest in web-sites.
There are 8 companies in their portfolio. Their main office is located in Istanbul.
The interview was conducted with the director of the Ilab Ventures named Cem Sertoglu on
1st of August 2008.

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Bosphorous capital Group works extensively with existing and potential foreign investors in
Turkey. After 20 years of its foundation in Europe, it came to the Turkey and combined its
experiences with companies in the country. As well Bosphorous Venture Group helps
Turkish companies seeking expansion and growth opportunities both inside and outside ofTurkey. The Group is supported by product and solution partners in the US, Germany,
Russia, the United Kingdom, Israel and India. The company is focused on Hi-tech. Their
head office is located in Istanbul.
The interview was conducted with Mehmet Calika on 31th of July 2008. He is the chairmanof the board.

3.6 RELIABILITY and VALIDITY
The terms, reliability and validity are two important terms which decide the scientific qualityof a study. These parameters of the study demonstrate the standards that the research is really
good or not. According to the Jacobsen (2002) the empirical data must be reliable and valid.
According to Hammersley (1987) there is no widely accepted definition of reliability andvalidity. Despite this claim there are consistent definitions of these terms.
According to Yin (1994) reliability demonstrates that “the operations of a study, such as thedata collection procedures, can be repeated with the same results” (pg: 33). According to
Sapsford and Evans (1984: 259) “Reliability is the consistency of the results when using ameasure in research. It is a word used of measuring instruments, including the humanobserver, and refers to the basic scientific requirement that it should be possible for anotherworker to duplicate one`s results or produce comparable evidence, at least in principles”.
Especially high reliability means that if another research would be done on the study underanother time, with similar circumstances and methods, somewhat same results should beobtained. For a research in order to have high reliability, the researcher has to produce
accurate results.
According to Jacobson (2002) and Carlsson (1991) reliability in a qualitative study is relatedwith set-up of the study and how it can have influenced the found results. The influence canbe because of the chosen research method, researchers or the context of the interview. In thisstudy telephone interview influenced the interview. The author lost the benefits of the faceto-face interviews with conducting a phone interview such as body language. At the sametime the author thinks this study is reliable because, the interview questions and results are
consistent with the theoretical explanations and previous researches.
18

Wiedersheim and Eriksson (1997) stated that validity is the ability of research instrument tomeasure what it is supposed to be measured. According to Robson (2002) the terms ofvalidity search if the findings are actually about what they appear to be about. Validity is atechnical issue in a quantitative research however it is a hardness of a description and acredibility of an explanation in a qualitative research. It is difficult to resolve validity thanreliability, because validity is a more difficult issue and broader. But if the theory can beproved in the real life, it means that the research has a high validity. Also for the validity of a
research there should be relevance and correspondence between theoretical study andempirical findings.
According to Jacobson (2002), for validity in a qualitative method the readers could relate to
the categorization made by the researchers, could see that categorisation is a reflection of thecollected data and the sample selection process. In this study, questions were formed by using
information in the theory part. So it is possible for readers to categorize the research made byresearcher. Especially following categorization enables the readers that they are a reflectionof data. Again according to Jacobson (2002) right people should be interviewed and related
answers should be taken from them. In this research, author tried to communicate with theknowledgeable people about the topic. The interviews were conducted in Turkish. So a small
misunderstanding can be occurred between interviewer and interviewee while translating thestatements to English. On the other hand the conversation could not been recorded. These
reasons can affect the validity of the study. But the information that collected frominterviewees was checked from the secondary sources and they were found consistent. Henceusing multiple sources increased the validity of the dissertation.

19

4 EMPIRICAL STUDY
An interview conducted and was asked to different venture capital firms. In this part theresults of the interviews that were made with three venture capital companies in Turkey will
be presented.
4.1 Factors that affecting venture capitalists during their investment decisions
according to due diligence process
4.1.1 Management
All of the interviewed companies think that management team and entrepreneurs of the startup companies` are important factors for their investment decisions. The company, IS
PRIVATE EQUITY, stated that their management team is one of the important factor in theinvestment process.

They develop their strategies for value creation by the help ofmanagement. They investigate start-up companies by the respectable, professional, and wellmotivated management team. This team enable to enhance the value of the company for the
benefit of the shareholders. They expect the same things from the other firms´ management
team. On the other hand the company stated that the personal feathers of the managers andentrepreneurs are the other important factors for them. They look for the successful, moral,honest, knowledgeable, determined, people with interpersonal skills and open minded people
to make manager and look for entrepreneurs who have these features. BOSPHOROUS
VENTURE GROUP said that management team has a big importance and play a big role for
their company. Management team give investment decisions substantially. They mentionedthat the company make researches and analysis for some areas like market sectors, productetc. to give investment decisions. This role is done by managers. So the managers of theportfolio companies should have ability to achieve these works. Therefore they stated theyshould choose managers who can make these researches and analysis successfully andcarefully. They engage managers and entrepreneurs who are careful, moral, entrepreneurial,
clever and well spoken. ILAB VENTURES agree with other two firms. They statedmanagement team and entrepreneurs are important for investment decisions. Especially theylook for patient, social, hardworking, people have capability in management and leader
managers and entrepreneurs. At the same time they believe that they cannot be successful andgive right decisions without a well- educated management team.

20

4.1.2 Financials
All of the venture capital firms stated financial factors are very important for their investment
decisions. According to IS PRIVATE EQUITY financial factors are significant factors for themost of the companies and the great majority of the firms are established to gain financial
benefits. They stated financial factors are really important for their company too. Their mostimportant financial factor in investment decision process is to gain a stable high profit andhigh cash flow. Also they mentioned about their exit strategy and they said that they exit in 35 years. BOSPHOROUS VENTURE GROUP also talked about the importance of thefinancial factors in investment decision process. They accentuated if a project is notprofitable they will not invest in it. The most important financial factor for them is superior
return rates on investments and profitability. They stated they exit in 3-5 years. ILAB
VENTURES agreed with the other two companies. They also stated financial factors arereally important when making investment decisions. They cannot think an investment without
a benefit for the company. Ilab Ventures mentioned about the importance of economies ofscales, high profits in the long term and valuation. They stated that they generally exit in 5
years but sometimes the situation does not let to achieve this aim and they exit in 5-7 years.
4.1.3 Market
All of the venture capital firms think that market is an important factor for their investment
decisions. But different market components are important for each firm. IS PRIVATEEQUITY, mentioned that they should invest in a market which has a big growth rate andcompetition potential. Also global markets and market share are important market factors forthem. They think they should be partner with Turkish companies where they help them not
only in Turkey but also globally compete in their respective industries by sourcing
acquisitions, enhancing operational efficiencies, facilitating new market expansions. At thesame time they want to invest in companies which have the potential to make substantialcommercial affect covering large market opportunities. BOSPHOROUS VENTURE GROUP
looks for Turkish and regional emerging markets which are relatively volatile and havemarket growth. According to them these kinds of markets provide superior business
opportunities for companies. ILAB VENTURES mentioned that they want to invest inelectronic markets and markets which have growth potential and the markets which areinnovator. They also accentuated, they cannot make an investment without making market
analysis and investigations.

21

4.1.4 ProductTwo of the three venture capital firms stated that product is an important factor for theirinvestment decisions called Is Private Equity and Bosphorous Venture Group. IS PRIVATEEQUITYprefers

unique,fashionable,

differentiatedandwidely-usedproducts.

BOSPHOROUS VENTURE GROUP believes product is an impressive factor for theinvestment decisions. However they behave more selective than Is Private Equity. They
choose technical and differentiated products. According to them, firstly a product should havea technological speciality than it should have other features. Other features which
Bosphorous Venture Group looks for are inimitable and well-designed products. ILAB
VENTURES also stated product is not an important criterion for their investment decisions.
They mentioned they are interested in web-sites therefore they can support every productwith condition having a web-site. . They are just expecting profit from the product.
4.1.5 Location
Location is important for both of Is Private Equity, and Ilab Ventures. The company IS
PRIVATE EQUITY, accentuated they can invest in companies having global reach but
whose main office is in Turkey. It is one of the biggest venture capital and private equity
company of Turkey. They do not evaluate companies that take place out of Turkey and theylook for opportunities inside the country markets. ILAB VENTURES stated that they want togrow up in Turkey so they choose companies located in Turkey and they choose Turkish
electronic commerce websites. Especially they choose companies from big cities of Turkey.
If a company is not located in Turkey, they disregarded that company. But BOSPHOROUS
VENTURE GROUP has a different aspect. They stated the location of the firm is notimportant for them. They can invest in Turkish and international companies. If they can takeadvantage from the company, they invest in it. The location is not an important criterion forthem at that point.
4.1.6 Industry
All three of the venture capital firms take into account industry during their investments. IS
PRIVATE EQUITY focuses on industries which include retail, branded fast moving
consumer goods, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, building materials, chemicals, education,
tourism, energy, and TMT (Technology, Media, Telecom). At the same time this firm
explained they can make investment to the firms which have big opportunities.

22

BOSPHOROUS VENTURE GROUP makes sectoral analysis before its investment decision,and then it gives the decisions about investments. They make their investment to industries
which are related with technology. They accept technological markets are risky but thesekinds of markets have big growth potential and high returns on investments. ILAB
VENTURES consider about industry like Is Private Equity and Bosporus Capital Group
before giving investment decisions. They want to be unique in internet industry and they
focus on internet. Also they put into words that they want to be unique in internet area in
Turkey, therefore they decide to prepare a meaningful, expressive and powerful businessmodel for this sector. They think that this model will be very useful and unique for Turkishinternet sector and help them to make real their dreams of being number one.

23

5 ANALYSIS
In this part the interview will be analyzed via using theory part. Also some theories will be
used to make the observations clearer.

5.1 Management
IS PRIVATE BOSPHOROUS
EQUITYGROUPILAB VENTURESManagement

Important

Yes

Yes

Yes

Features of the
managers andentrepreneurs

successful,
moral,
honestknowledgeable,
determined,
interpersonal
skills and open
mindedcareful,moral, Patient, social, hardworking,entrepreneurial
capability in management andskills, clever and leader
well spoken

Table 1: Summary of the empirical findings in management area
All of the venture capital firms stated that, management is an important factor in theirinvestment decisions. This situation confirms the statement of the Peter Howson (2003),
which says most of the private equity investors‟ decisions, on whether invest or not to invest
in a target are given by their views on the management.
Is Private Equity looks for successful, moral, honest, knowledgeable, determined, people withinterpersonal skills and open minded managers and entrepreneurs while Bosphorous Group
looks for careful, moral, people with entrepreneurial skills, clever and well spoken ones.
Patient, social, hardworking, capable and leader managers and entrepreneurs are chosen by
the company named Ilab Ventures. Camp (2002) stated venture capitalists want to invest inpeople with characteristics of integrity, intellectual honesty, intellectual brilliance, and people
smarts or interpersonal skills. From these features honesty, brilliance, and interpersonal skills
were chosen as an important factor for the venture capitalists` investment decisions. Muzyka
et al. (1996) stated leadership ability of the entrepreneur and the management team is an24

important factor and Ilab ventures mentioned about the importance of the leadership in theirinvestment decisions.

5.2 Financials
ILAB VENTURES

Financials

IS PRIVATE BOSPHOROUS
EQUITY
GROUP

Important

Yes

Yes

Yes

Factors

stable highprofit, high cash
flow

superior return rates
on investments andprofitability

economies of scales, highprofitability in the longterm, and valuation

Exit

3-7 years

3-7 years

5-7 years

Table 2: Summary of the empirical findings in financial area
Financial factors are important for all of the venture capital firms. Is Private equity, expect
stable high profits and high cash flows from its investments. Bosphorous Group looks forsuperior return rates on investments and profitability while Ilab Ventures give importance toeconomies of scale, long term profitability and valuation during their investment decisions.
As seen above, all of the venture capital firms give importance to profitability factor in theirinvestment decisions and this situation verify somewhat from the statements of the John E.
Triantis, (1999) which says financial due diligence contains all of the views of revenues,
expenses, and investments throughout with a review of a cash flows, profitability, dividend policy,
tax status and unit costs in order to evaluate or confirm the financial health of the firm.

Tybjee & Bruno (1984), Cardis et al. (2001 and Camp (2002) stated in their study exit is an
important financial factor in making investment decisions. The actors in the study agreed
with this statement and they represented their exit timeframes during the interview. Is Private
Equity, and Bosphorous Group stated they aim to exit in 3-7years. Ilab Ventures accented,
they generally want to exit in 5 year but sometimes the situation does not let to achieve thisaim and they exit in 5-7 years.

5.3 Market
All of the venture capital firms stated market is an important factor in their investment
decisions. Is Private Equity talked about growth rate, competition potential, global markets
25

and market share. These are the most important market factors in making investment
decisions for them. Bosphorous Group mentioned about relatively volatile regional emerging
markets, and market growth. Ilab Ventures are interested in electronic markets. However theygive attention to innovator markets and markets that have growth potential. The findings ofthree case study of this dissertation confirm some points of the previous studies of Golis(2002), Fichera (2001), Tybjee & Bruno (1984), Zacharakis & Meyer (1998) and Camp
(2002) which found market growth, market share, market size, markets have growth potential(large markets in the future), emerging and new markets are important market factors to giveinvestment decision.

IS

Market

PRIVATE BOSPHOROUS

ILAB VENTURESEQUITY

GROUP

Important

Yes

Yes

Components

Growth rate,
Relatively volatile Market that has growthCompetition potential,
regional emerging potential,
innovator
Global markets andmarket sharemarkets,
market markets,electronicYesgrowthmarkets

Table 3: Summary of the empirical findings in market area

5.4 Product
IS PRIVATE BOSPHOROUS
EQUITYGROUPILAB VENTURES

Product

Important

Yes

No

Preferable
productYes

unique,Technological,
fashionable, andinimitable, well-----widely-used,
designed anddifferentiateddifferentiated products
Table 4: Summary of the empirical findings in product area

26

Is Private Equity and Bosphorous Group mentioned that product is an important criteria intheir investment. But Ilab Ventures does not think like the other two firms think. For them thekind of the product is not important, just the profitability and products with condition having
a web-site are important factors for them.
Tyebjee and Bruno (1984) found the product differentiation patentability and uniqueness isimportant. Fichera (2001) stated uniqueness and differentiation are important factors while
applying a product. Elango et al. (1995) found in their study, highly differentiated products
are chosen by venture capitalists. The companies in this study confirm the findings about
product features. Is Private Equity looks for unique, fashionable, differentiated and widelyused products while Bosphorous Group give importance to technological, inimitable, welldesigned and differentiated products.

5.5 Location
Location

ImportantIS
PRIVATEEQUITYBOSPHOROUS

Yes

No

Yes

------

TurkeyChosen Location Turkey

ILAB VENTURES

GROUPTable 5: Summary of the empirical findings in location area
Two of the venture capital firms stated location is an important factor for them but
Bosphorous group said that location is not an important factor for their investment decisions.
The determination of Bosphorous Group supports the findings of Muzyka et al (1996) thatlocation is not a necessary factor for the venture capitalists investment decisions.
Ilab ventures and Is Private Equity focus on companies in Turkey but especially in big cities
and developed regions of the country. These finding supports the notions` of Camp (2002)
which say location is an important factor in venture capitalists investment decisions andnotion of Tybjee & Bruno (1984) which say geographic location is an important factor.

27

5.6 Industry
ILAB VENTURES

IndustryIS
PRIVATE BOSPHOROUS
EQUITY
GROUP

Important

Yes

Yes

Sectors

Yes

Healthcare
andpharmaceuticals,
Sectors related with Internet
building
materials, technology
chemicals,
retail,education,
tourism,energy, and TMT etc.

Table 6: Summary of the empirical findings in industry area
All of the venture capital firms mentioned industry is an important factor while giving
investment decisions. Is Private Equity stated that they choose the healthcare andpharmaceuticals, building materials, chemicals, retail, education, tourism, energy, and TMT
industries. However they choose industries which have big growth opportunities. BosphorousGroup makes sectoral analysis before its investment decision then gives its decision about
investments and it prefers industries which are related with technology. Ilab Ventures
accentuated they want to be unique in internet industry and they focus on internet. Also theymentioned that they decide to prepare a meaningful, expressive and powerful business modelfor this sector.
Gompers & Lerner (2004) stated the most of venture capitalists focus on high technology
industry sectors and Bosphorous Group invest in high technology sectors. Fichera (2001)
mentioned venture capitalists make investment in industries that give great potentials for
growth and expansion and Is Private Equity accentuated they choose industries which havegrowth opportunities. Also Camp (2002) stated being knowledgeable about industries is very
important for venture capitalists to completely understand their investment opportunities andto make sound investment decisions and Bosphorous Group give importance to thisknowledge by making sectoral analysis before its investment decision.

28

6 CONCLUSION
This chapter will summarise the empirical findings and analysis

Since 1970s most of the academic researchers (see Camp 2002, Zacharakis and Meyer 1998,
Tybjee & Bruno 1984, and Shepherd et.al 2000 etc.), have tried to describe and understandventure capitalists` decision making process (Jorge Silva, 2004). The primary objective of
these researches is to determine how venture capitalists can evaluate potential investments(Tybjee and Bruno 1981, Kahn 1987). In this study the author demonstrated the importantfactors for venture capitalists investment decisions according to due diligence process. The
importance of the management, financials, market, products, location and industry factors
were investigated. Generally the sample companies think these factors are important to giveinvestment decisions. According to three case studies of this dissertation, venture capitalists
look for successful, moral, honest knowledgeable, determined, open minded, careful,entrepreneurial, clever well spoken, patient, social, hardworking, capable, and leader people
in management area. In the market area, growth rate, competition potential, global markets,
market share, relatively volatile regional emerging markets, innovator markets, and electronic
markets are important factors during making decisions. In the matter of financial factors,
stable high profit, high cash flow, superior return rates on investments, economies of scales
and valuation were found important while unique, fashionable, technological and widelyused, differentiated products were found significant decision factors during talking about
products. At the same time healthcare and pharmaceuticals, building materials, chemicals,
retail, education, tourism, energy, TMT and internet were the most preferred industries forthese three firms. Also short distance locations were found important for these venture capital
firms.
In this dissertation most of the findings of three case studies were found suitable with thefindings of the literatures. Venture capitalists give importance to factors which were definedby the literatures` researches previously (see Camp 2002, Zacharakis and Meyer 1998,
Tybjee & Bruno 1984, and Shepherd et.al 2000 etc.). Therefore this study gives the structureand dynamics of the decision making process.
Briefly, most of the findings in the previous literatures (see Camp 2002, Zacharakis andMeyer 1998, Tybjee & Bruno 1984, and Shepherd et.al 2000 etc.), and three case studies of29this dissertation suggest that the management, market, product, financials, location, andindustry are important factors for venture capitalists to decide whether to invest or not.

30

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34

Appendix- A: Interview questions that were asked to venture capitalists

1. How do you evaluate your portfolio companies? How do you give investment decisions?
2. Are financial factors important for your investment decisions or not? What are the mostimportant financial factors for you?
3. Is management an important factor for your investment decisions? Which characteristics
a manager or an entrepreneur should have?
4. What industries and locations are of greatest interest to you?
5. Are the type of market and the kind of product in which you want to invest important?
Which types of market and kinds of product do you prefer mostly?
6. In how many years do you exit in a company? Is this depends on the company or not?

35