Predicting Investor Success: SCU’s Graduate Business Students Partner with Credit Suisse Labs
Silicon Valley is the hub for innovation and venture capital investment. For years entrepreneurs have flocked to Sand Hill road seeking investment from VCs to fund their latest high tech discovery. It’s no surprise that most startups fail and an important predictor in a startups’ success is who finances their business. Knowing the odds of a successful investment is seemingly low, but what if entrepreneurs had a model to predict investor success?
Well, that’s exactly what Masters of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) students sought to uncover in their paper published in The Journal of Investment Management. Jeffrey Glupker ‘18, Vinit Nair, Benjamin Richman ‘18, Kyle Riener ‘18, and Amrita Sharma ‘18 pursued their practicum with Credit Suisse Labs and advisor, Professor Sanjiv Das.
So, what did these students discover?
While there is no shortage of research attempting to uncover the characteristics of a successful startup, this team approached the problem from a different angle by trying to identify what makes a successful investor. Using a large dataset of VC financers and related startup firms from Crunchbase, the team constructed a network of investors and categorized them by industries invested in, like tech and healthcare. Then, by combining graph-theoretic ideas with machine-learning algorithms, they examined how network position determines the most successful VCs. This study has implications for how startups and private banks may choose investors, and suggests merit to choosing a VC based on a subset who have a focus in the industry of the startup, rather than from the entire swath of potential options.
Practicum experience at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business is a key component to the MS in Business Analytics and MS in Information Systems curriculum. Not only is classroom experience valued, but the ability to apply learning in real-time creates lessons that last. Students observe strategy and theories in action, interact with and obtain feedback from industry leaders in a professional setting, and ultimately develop tangible outcomes that drive Silicon Valley forward.
Group members, Jeffrey Glupker and Benjamin Richman, elaborate on their practicum experience. “The relevance of the practicum was really special and unique, as we were able to work with professionals in roles we aspire to who solve real-world problems that have a profound impact. These aren’t classroom examples we’re dealing with anymore: the stakes are real, and they are significantly higher. But with the practicum we did more than just watch and observe from the sidelines: we collaborated and worked with them to tackle these problems. The involvement and exposure that we experienced was non-trivial; it felt like we were a part of the team,” says Glupker.
To have a successful practicum experience students work with a practicum partner, a Silicon Valley firm, and are assigned to a practicum advisor, a Masters of Science faculty member. Glupker describes “seeing their thinking process and solving problems” as the greatest benefit of working with Credit Suisse Labs. Richman adds, “I learned a lot about leadership and mentorship from the team’s eagerness to help us grow. They took us seriously as partners, which meant that they left us enough space to develop and helped us to produce better work through critical discussion.”
As the team’s practicum advisor, MS in Business Analytics program founder, Professor Sanjiv Das, had a very close working relationship with the Credit Suisse team. Glupker shares, “Das was quick to provide guidance both in steering and focusing the direction of the project, and he was also instrumental in polishing and eventually publishing an article on the results.” Both Credit Suisse Labs and Das encouraged the team to “explore whatever theories and interests we had; to dive deeper into real, complicated examples of material we touched on in class, and to explore new techniques that we were interested in while making progress towards our overall goal,” describes Richman. The engagement that Das exhibited is the norm for faculty members at the Leavey School of Business where professors play an active role in students’ development that goes beyond the classroom walls.
Learn more about our MS in Business Analytics program or become a practicum partner and become part of Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business, the engine that drives Silicon Valley.