Stefanie Weniger

Stefanie Weniger is a doctoral candidate at the chair for Entrepreneurial Finance at the Technical University of Munich in Germany, under the supervision of Prof. Reiner Braun. She holds a B.A. in Corporate Management & Economics and Communication & Cultural Management, as well as a M.Sc. in Business Administration. During her studies and her subsequent work experience in a consulting company, she specialized in the field of market-based management and innovation.

Within her research, she focuses on the financing decision of entrepreneurs when selecting an investor, especially corporate venture capitalists (CVCs). Although CVCs are an attractive funding option for entrepreneurs from a resource perspective, the importance of trust is significantly increased for CVC investments, as they pose a high uncertainty of value added and the risk of misappropriation. Therefore, this research addresses the role an investor’s trustworthiness plays in the entrepreneur’s willingness to partner with a CVC. A metric conjoint analysis will be used to examine investor preferences in the consideration process of entrepreneurs. In the field of entrepreneurial finance, up until now conjoint analysis has mainly been used to assess the relative importance of investment criteria from the perspective of venture capital investors.

With her research, Stefanie targets the entrepreneurship community and shifts the focus of attention to the entrepreneur’s role in financing decisions. This will help investors gain a better understanding of the needs and criteria that are relevant to entrepreneurs.