Shepherd, Dean A., Richard Ettenson and Andrew Crouch, 'New Venture Strategy and Profitability: A Venture Capitalists Assess ment', Journal of Business Venture, vol. 15, no. 5/6 (September- November 2000), pp. 449-67

venture mortality has made a significant contribution to out knowledge of mortality risk, there has been little interest in identifying how venture managers can address the risks that all new organisations face. This is a regrettable oversight given that it is unlikely that new ventures commence with the explicit expectation of failure. On the contrary, venture capitalists and managers go to great lengths to improve the prospects of success of the projects they support, and it is reasonable to think that they are not just indulging in ’wishful thinking’ by doing so. This paper focuses on the common emphasis of prior researchinformational limitations of new ventures-and suggests that new ven-