Are we missing the platforms for the crowd? Comparing investment drivers across multiple crowdfunding platforms

Crowdfunding platforms have attracted the attention of practitioners and scholars alike. The term ‘crowdfunding’, first coined in the early 2000s, describes a new institutional form in the financial markets which utilizes digital platforms to originate and aggregate funding. There is abundant research on the topic. Yet extant work mainly consists of single-platform studies. We argue that observing patterns on one platform does not necessarily advance our understanding of other platforms. Specifically, we use data from eight major crowdfunding platforms to conduct a variance decomposition analysis of funding success. The findings suggest factors associated with success in a given platform do not replicate to the other platforms. It underscores the generalizability challenge facing the crowdfunding literature. We therefore highlight the need to complement single-platform studies with cross-platform studies

Social capital of venture capitalists and start-up funding

How does the social capital of venture capitalists (VCs) affect the funding of start-ups? By building on the rich social capital literature, we hypothesize a positive effect of VCs' social capital, derived from past syndication, on the amount of money that start-ups receive. Specifically, we argue that both structural and relational aspects of VCs' social networks provide VCs with superior access to information about current investment objects and opportunities to leverage them in the future, increasing their willingness to invest in these firms. Our empirical results, derived from a novel dataset containing more than 1,500 first funding rounds in the Internet and IT sector, strongly confirm our hypotheses. We discuss the implications of our findings for theories of venture capital and entrepreneurship, showing that the role and effect of VCs' social capital on start-up firms may be more complex than previously argued in the literature

Phylogenetic evidence for the invasion of a commercialized European Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita lineage into North America and New Zealand

Biological control (biocontrol) as a component of pest management strategies reduces reliance on synthetic chemicals, and seemingly offers a natural approach that minimizes environmental impact. However, introducing a new organism to new environments as a classical biocontrol agent can have broad and unanticipated biodiversity effects and conservation consequences. Nematodes are currently used in a variety of commercial biocontrol applications, including the use of Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita as an agent targeting pest slug and snail species. This species was originally discovered in Germany, and is generally thought to have European origins. P. hermaphrodita is sold under the trade name Nemaslug®, and is available only in European markets. However, this nematode species was discovered in New Zealand and the western United States, though its specific origins remained unclear. In this study, we analyzed 45 nematode strains representing eight different Phasmarhabditis species, collected from nine countries around the world. A segment of nematode mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was sequenced and subjected to phylogenetic analyses. Our mtDNA phylogenies were overall consistent with previous analyses based on nuclear ribosomal RNA (rRNA) loci. The recently discovered P. hermaphrodita strains in New Zealand and the United States had mtDNA haplotypes nearly identical to that of Nemaslug®, and these were placed together in an intraspecific monophyletic clade with high support in maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses. We also examined bacteria that co-cultured with the nematode strains isolated in Oregon, USA, by analyzing 16S rRNA sequences. Eight different bacterial genera were found to associate with these nematodes, though Moraxella osloensis, the bacteria species used in the Nemaslug® formulation, was not detected. This study provided evidence that nematodes deriving from the Nemaslug® biocontrol product have invaded countries where its use is prohibited by regulatory agencies and not commercially available

Supplementary Methods and Analyses from Risky business: linking <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> infection and entrepreneurship behaviours across individuals and countries

Disciplines such as business and economics often rely on the assumption of rationality when explaining complex human behaviours. However, growing evidence suggests that behaviour may concurrently be influenced by infectious microorganisms. The protozoan, <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i>, infects an estimated 2 billion people worldwide and has been linked to behavioural alterations in humans and other vertebrates. Here we integrate primary data from college students and business professionals with national-level information on cultural attitudes toward business to test the hypothesis that <i>T. gondii</i> infection influences individual as well as societal-scale entrepreneurship activities. Using a saliva-based assay, we found that students (<i>n </i>= 1495) who tested IgG positive for <i>T. gondii</i> exposure were 1.4× more likely to major in business and 1.70× more likely to have an emphasis in ‘management and entrepreneurship' over other business-related emphases. Among professionals attending entrepreneurship events, <i>T. gondii</i>-positive individuals were 1.8× more likely to have started their own business compared with other attendees (<i>n </i>= 197). Finally, after synthesizing and combining country-level databases on <i>T. gondii</i> infection from the past 25 years with the global entrepreneurship monitor of entrepreneurial activity, we found that infection prevalence was a consistent, positive predictor of entrepreneurial activity and intentions at the national scale, regardless of whether previously identified economic covariates were included. Nations with higher infection also had a lower fraction of respondents citing ‘fear of failure' in inhibiting initiating new business ventures. While correlational, these results highlight the linkage between parasitic infection and complex human behaviours, including those relevant to business, entrepreneurship, and economic productivity

Supplementary Methods and Analyses from Risky business: linking <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> infection and entrepreneurship behaviours across individuals and countries

Disciplines such as business and economics often rely on the assumption of rationality when explaining complex human behaviours. However, growing evidence suggests that behaviour may concurrently be influenced by infectious microorganisms. The protozoan, <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i>, infects an estimated 2 billion people worldwide and has been linked to behavioural alterations in humans and other vertebrates. Here we integrate primary data from college students and business professionals with national-level information on cultural attitudes toward business to test the hypothesis that <i>T. gondii</i> infection influences individual as well as societal-scale entrepreneurship activities. Using a saliva-based assay, we found that students (<i>n </i>= 1495) who tested IgG positive for <i>T. gondii</i> exposure were 1.4× more likely to major in business and 1.70× more likely to have an emphasis in ‘management and entrepreneurship' over other business-related emphases. Among professionals attending entrepreneurship events, <i>T. gondii</i>-positive individuals were 1.8× more likely to have started their own business compared with other attendees (<i>n </i>= 197). Finally, after synthesizing and combining country-level databases on <i>T. gondii</i> infection from the past 25 years with the global entrepreneurship monitor of entrepreneurial activity, we found that infection prevalence was a consistent, positive predictor of entrepreneurial activity and intentions at the national scale, regardless of whether previously identified economic covariates were included. Nations with higher infection also had a lower fraction of respondents citing ‘fear of failure' in inhibiting initiating new business ventures. While correlational, these results highlight the linkage between parasitic infection and complex human behaviours, including those relevant to business, entrepreneurship, and economic productivity

New and Interesting Fungi. 7.

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: FigShare doi: 10.25403/UPre- searchdata.26176783. FIG. S1. Single gene phylogenies of Penicillium sect. Fasciculata ser. Camembertiorum based on BenA, CaM, RPB1, RPB2, Cct8 and Tsr1. Datasets were aligned using MAFFT v. 7.520 (Katoh & Standley 2013) and a Maximum Likelihood tree was calculated in IQ-TREE v. 2.2.2.6 (Minh et al. 2020). The the most appropriate nucleotide substitution model based on the Akaike information criterion was applied to each region and its exons and introns using PartitionFinder v. 2 (Lanfear et al. 2017). The trees were rooted to P. expansum. Penicillium dabashanicum strains are shown in coloured bold text. Branch support in nodes higher than 80 % bootstrap are indicated above branches (T = ex-type). FIG. S2. Single gene phylogenies of Penicillium subg. Penicillium based on ITS, BenA, CaM and RPB2. Datasets were aligned using MAFFT v. 7.520 (Katoh & Standley 2013) and a Maximum Likelihood tree was calculated in IQ-TREE v. 2.2.2.6 (Minh et al. 2020). The nucleotide substitution model GTR+I+G was applied to each region and its exons and introns (Abadi et al. 2019). The trees were rooted to P. glabrum. Penicillium pascuigraminis is shown in coloured bold text. Branch support in nodes higher than 80 % bootstrap are indicated above branches (T = ex-type). FIG. S3. Single gene phylogenies of Penicillium sect. Canescentia ser. Atroveneta based on BenA, CaM and RPB2. Datasets were aligned using MAFFT v. 7.520 (Katoh & Standley 2013) and a Maximum Likelihood tree was calculated in IQ-TREE v. 2.2.2.6 (Minh et al. 2020). The nucleotide substitution model GTR+I+G was applied to each region and its exons and introns (Abadi et al. 2019). The trees were rooted to P. canescens. Penicillium viridipigmentum is shown in coloured bold text. Branch support in nodes higher than 80 % bootstrap are indicated above branches (T = ex-type). FIG. S4. Single gene phylogenies of Talaromyces sect. Islandici based on ITS, BenA, CaM and RPB2. Datasets were aligned using MAFFT v. 7.520 (Katoh & Standley 2013) and a Maximum Likelihood tree was calculated in IQ-TREE v. 2.2.2.6 (Minh et al. 2020). The nucleotide substitution model GTR+I+G was applied to each region and its exons and introns (Abadi et al. 2019). The trees were rooted to T. subinflatus. Talaromyces podocarpi is shown in coloured bold text. Branch support in nodes higher than 80 % bootstrap are indicated above branches (T = ex-type). TABLE S1. List of species, vouchers and GenBank accession numbers of sequences used in this study. TABLE S2. Strains used for phylogenetic comparisons of Anthracocystis. TABLE S3. GenBank accession numbers of additional isolates included in phylogenetic analyses of the genus Bisifusarium. TABLE S4. Strains used for phylogenetic comparisons of Devriesia and related genera. TABLE S5. Strains used for phylogenetic comparisons of Ericboehmia thailandica and related species. TABLE S6. GenBank accession numbers of additional isolates included in phylogenetic analyses of the Fusarium redolens species complex. TABLE S7. GenBank accession numbers of additional isolates included in phylogenetic analyses of the genus Macroconia. TABLE S8. Strains used for phylogenetic comparisons of Penicillium cederbergense and related species. TABLE S9. Strains used for phylogenetic comparisons of Penicillium dabashanicum and related species. TABLE S10. Strains used for phylogenetic comparisons of Penicillium pascuigraminis and related species. TABLE S11. Strains used for phylogenetic comparisons of Penicillium viridipigmentum and related species. TABLE S12. Strains used for phylogenetic comparisons of Talaromyces podocarpi and related species.Two new genera, 17 new species, two epitypes, and six interesting new host and / or geographical records are introduced in this study. New genera include: Cadophorella (based on Cadophorella faginea) and Neosatchmopsis (based on Neosatchmopsis ogrovei). New species include: Alternaria halotolerans (from hypersaline sea water, Qatar), Amylostereum stillwellii (from mycangia of Sirex areolatus, USA), Angiopsora anthurii (on leaves of Anthurium andraeanum, Brazil), Anthracocystis zeae-maydis (from pre-stored Zea mays, South Africa), Bisifusarium solicola (from soil, South Africa), Cadophorella faginea (from dead capsule of Fagus sylvatica, Germany), Devriesia mallochii (from house dust, Canada), Fusarium kirstenboschense (from soil, South Africa), Macroconia podocarpi (on ascomata of ascomycete on twigs of Podocarpus falcatus, South Africa), Neosatchmopsis ogrovei (on Eucalyptus leaf litter, Spain), Ophiocordyceps kuchinaraiensis (on Coleoptera larva, Thailand), Penicillium cederbergense (from soil, South Africa), Penicillium pascuigraminis (from pasture mulch, South Africa), Penicillium viridipigmentum (from soil, South Africa), Pleurotheciella acericola (on stem, bark of living tree of Acer sp., Germany), Protocreopsis physciae (on Physcia caesia, Netherlands), and Talaromyces podocarpi (from soil, South Africa).The European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (RISE) under the Marie Skłodowska- Curie grant agreement No. 101008129, the Dutch NWO Roadmap grant agreement No. 2020/ENW/00901156, the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme and Natural Resources Canada, he National Research Foundation of South Africa, the Maize Trust, and the Future Leaders - African Independent Research fellowship program.https://fuse-journal.orghj2024BiochemistryForestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)GeneticsMicrobiology and Plant PathologySDG-15:Life on lan