Technological innovation requires large investments. Venture capital (VC) is a prominent financial source for innovative start-ups. A venture capitalist will inevitably transfer knowledge to facilitate the innovation of a firm while monitoring and advising its portfolio companies. Only when a firm has its own valuable new knowledge and high growth potential would venture capitalists select it. At the same time, big data knowledge, such as customer demands and user preferences, is also important for the new product development of a firm in the big data environment. Therefore, private knowledge transferred from venture capitalists, new knowledge developed independently by a firm itself, and big data knowledge are the three main types of knowledge for venture-backed firms in the big data environment. To find the influences of VC and knowledge transfer on the innovative performance of venture-backed firms, a model of maximizing the present value of the expected profit of new product innovation performance of a venture-backed firm in the big data environment is presented. The model can help venture capitalists to determine the scale of investment and the optimal exit time and predict the internal rate of return (IRR). This model can also help innovative start-ups to illustrate the value and prospects of a project to attract investment in their business prospectus.
Finding the Next Unicorn: When Big Data Meets Venture Capital
