اثرات وابستگی شبکه به شناخت فرصت: یک مدل واسطه مدون کسب دانش و جهت گیری کارآفرینی  The effects of network reliance on opportunity recognition: A moderated mediation model of knowledge  acquisition and entrepreneurial orientation

1. Introduction Issues related to new ventures have arisen in recent times, notably after the venture boom of the 2000s. The world currently seems to be in the grip of venture fever. In 2014 alone, venture capitalists invested N47.3 billion USD in 4000 startups, which was the largest investment since 2001. The number of startups that achieved valuations of one billion dollars skyrocketed in 2014 (CBI insights, 2015). Additionally, there were 8 startups among the top 10 firms listed on NASDAQ, indicative of the global startup trend. Nonetheless, not every startup is successful; there are no shortcuts to success. According to a survey report by Startup Alliance (2014), a public-private network association supporting startups in South Korea, many entrepreneurs consider networking to be the key to success, despite numerous difficulties associated with establishing and managing business networks. Some studies have also confirmed the importance of networking. It has been found that entrepreneurs may discover innovative ways more effectively through a combination of external networks and internal resources (Gulati and Singh, 1998). As such, it would be important to investigate early-stage entrepreneurs, who have been operating for less than five years and are striving to find opportunities through their networks (Korunka et al., 2003). However, studies related to such networks have mainly focused on large firms and small- and medium-sized companies older than five years. In addition, entrepreneurship research has mostly focused on business performance, including Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) or the amount of seed capital raised, as the dependent variable, which only captures the entrepreneurial outcome at a particular point of time. However, financial results are not the only concern of entrepreneurs. Although measuring financial performance is necessary, entrepreneurs’ performance should also be analyzed in terms of the entrepreneurial process, as entrepreneurial activities reflect the work of the startup over its entire life and are not just a one-stop exercise. Opportunity recognition is a continuous entrepreneurial process across all stages: prestartup, startup, and growth of a venture. Analyzing opportunity recognition allows researchers to forecast the power of potential gains, which cannot be captured simply through monetary outcomes (Singh et al., 1999b). Moreover, according to De Carolis and Saparito (2006), a combination of networks and cognition give birth to successful opportunity recognition. An entrepreneur’s network is a critical resource in expanding bounded rationality. Entrepreneurs are more successful in recognizing opportunities when they perceive that vital technical or market knowledge can be gained from the networks. Therefore, it is beneficial to examine opportunity recognition as a consequence of an entrepreneur’s networking process. However, previous research has not fully accounted for these mechanisms through the identification of suitable mediators or moderators (Wasdani and Mathew, 2014).