Startup Investment Decision Support: Application of Venture Capital Scorecards Using Machine Learning Approaches
This research aims to explore which kinds of metrics are more valuable in making investment decisions for a venture capital firm using machine learning methods. We measure the fit of developed companies to a venture capital firm’s investment thesis with a balanced scorecard based on quantitative and...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-07-01
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| Series: | Systems |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-8954/9/3/55 |
| _version_ | 1797517043987120128 |
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| author | Sarah Bai Yijun Zhao |
| author_facet | Sarah Bai Yijun Zhao |
| author_sort | Sarah Bai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This research aims to explore which kinds of metrics are more valuable in making investment decisions for a venture capital firm using machine learning methods. We measure the fit of developed companies to a venture capital firm’s investment thesis with a balanced scorecard based on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the companies. Collaborating with the management team of Rose Street Capital (RSC), we explore the most influential factors of their balanced scorecard using their retrospective investment decisions of successful and failed startup companies. Our study employs six standard machine learning models and their counterparts with an additional feature selection technique. Our findings suggest that “planning strategy” and “team management” are the two most determinant factors in the firm’s investment decisions, implying that qualitative factors could be more important to startup evaluation. Furthermore, we analyzed which machine learning models were most accurate in predicting the firm’s investment decisions. Our experimental results demonstrate that the best machine learning models achieve an overall accuracy of 78% in making the correct investment decisions, with an average of 87% and 69% in predicting the decision of companies the firm would and would not have invested in, respectively. Our study provides convincing evidence that qualitative criteria could be more influential in investment decisions and machine learning models can be adapted to help provide which values may be more important to consider for a venture capital firm. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:10:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-17fbb27567884f75a9d781398f1b5d14 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-8954 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:10:17Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Systems |
| spelling | doaj.art-17fbb27567884f75a9d781398f1b5d142023-11-22T15:29:40ZengMDPI AGSystems2079-89542021-07-01935510.3390/systems9030055Startup Investment Decision Support: Application of Venture Capital Scorecards Using Machine Learning ApproachesSarah Bai0Yijun Zhao1Gabelli School of Business, Fordham University, New York, NY 10023, USADepartment of Computer and Information Sciences, Fordham University, New York, NY 10023, USAThis research aims to explore which kinds of metrics are more valuable in making investment decisions for a venture capital firm using machine learning methods. We measure the fit of developed companies to a venture capital firm’s investment thesis with a balanced scorecard based on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the companies. Collaborating with the management team of Rose Street Capital (RSC), we explore the most influential factors of their balanced scorecard using their retrospective investment decisions of successful and failed startup companies. Our study employs six standard machine learning models and their counterparts with an additional feature selection technique. Our findings suggest that “planning strategy” and “team management” are the two most determinant factors in the firm’s investment decisions, implying that qualitative factors could be more important to startup evaluation. Furthermore, we analyzed which machine learning models were most accurate in predicting the firm’s investment decisions. Our experimental results demonstrate that the best machine learning models achieve an overall accuracy of 78% in making the correct investment decisions, with an average of 87% and 69% in predicting the decision of companies the firm would and would not have invested in, respectively. Our study provides convincing evidence that qualitative criteria could be more influential in investment decisions and machine learning models can be adapted to help provide which values may be more important to consider for a venture capital firm.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-8954/9/3/55machine learningventure capitalstartupsinvestment decision supportpredictabilityrisk factor analysis |
| spellingShingle | Sarah Bai Yijun Zhao Startup Investment Decision Support: Application of Venture Capital Scorecards Using Machine Learning Approaches Systems machine learning venture capital startups investment decision support predictability risk factor analysis |
| title | Startup Investment Decision Support: Application of Venture Capital Scorecards Using Machine Learning Approaches |
| title_full | Startup Investment Decision Support: Application of Venture Capital Scorecards Using Machine Learning Approaches |
| title_fullStr | Startup Investment Decision Support: Application of Venture Capital Scorecards Using Machine Learning Approaches |
| title_full_unstemmed | Startup Investment Decision Support: Application of Venture Capital Scorecards Using Machine Learning Approaches |
| title_short | Startup Investment Decision Support: Application of Venture Capital Scorecards Using Machine Learning Approaches |
| title_sort | startup investment decision support application of venture capital scorecards using machine learning approaches |
| topic | machine learning venture capital startups investment decision support predictability risk factor analysis |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-8954/9/3/55 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sarahbai startupinvestmentdecisionsupportapplicationofventurecapitalscorecardsusingmachinelearningapproaches AT yijunzhao startupinvestmentdecisionsupportapplicationofventurecapitalscorecardsusingmachinelearningapproaches |