The extant literature highlights that environmental conditions, during the creation phase, imprint on a start-up’s survival and growth. However, there are few studies that explore the composite nature of a founding team’s capabilities and networks, developed within this phase, and the contribution made to future performance. This paper uses the distinctive context of university spin-offs, where early stage ventures are fostered by institutional interventions, to analyse the influence that the capabilities and networks of a founding team, at incorporation, have upon the future performance of the spin-off. Based on data from 181 university spin-offs, this paper empirically demonstrates that the entrepreneurial capabilities of a founding team, augmented during the ‘creation’ phase, have a positive influence on the performance of a spin-off during the ‘growth’ phase, and that the networks of a founding team indirectly affect a spin-off’s performance through the enhancement of a team’s entrepreneurial capabilities
