Abstract

The question of why some people are better than others at creating new ventures has received considerable attention in the entrepreneurship literature. Two streams of research, focused on successful intelligence – a combination of analytical, practical and creative abilities – and emotional intelligence, have studied the influence of each type of intelligence on the success of a new start-up in silos.
This research aims to build on the literature to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the nature of relationship between emotional and successful intelligence, and their impact on the success of a new venture. It does so by exploring three variations of the potential relationships between these variables: 1- emotional intelligence, along with successful intelligence, directly affects new venture creation, 2- successful intelligence mediates the relationship between emotional intelligence and new venture creation, and 3- emotional intelligence moderates the relationship between successful intelligence and new venture creation.
Fifty-seven entrepreneurs who own ventures in their start-up phase completed online tests of successful and emotional intelligence, and reported on the performance of their venture. Findings from this study revealed no significant relationships for any of the three models tested. However, they suggest a possible moderation effect of emotional intelligence on the relationship between successful intelligence and new venture creation. The study also revealed unexpected findings between entrepreneurial past experience, successful intelligence and self-reports of venture performance, a research avenue that may be worthy of further investigation.