Her research, at the intersection of innovation, entrepreneurship, and finance, focuses on understanding the resources that make ventures successful; specifically, the effects of entrepreneurs’ identification and acquisition of resources on venture founding, innovation, and IPOs. To study these questions, she uses novel, hand-collected longitudinal datasets and conducts extensive interviews and fieldwork to aid in interpreting the quantitative results. Professor Pahnke’s research contributes by highlighting the boundary conditions under which resources that are typically considered beneficial to ventures—such as venture capital, well-connected partners, or star employees—can be less helpful, or even harmful. Her research has been published in Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, and Strategic Management Journal.