It Takes Two to Tango: Reciprocity in Entrepreneurial Mentorship Tie Formation

Mentorship relations are essential to new firms as they reduce the uncertainty and help to secure resources, but not all tie formation investments pay off. While start-ups may pursue certain connections, their interest may not be reciprocated. However, existing research seldom focuses on processes underpinning relational asymmetry. The goal of this paper is to address this gap. Unlike other studies, our research design recognizes that the formation of a mentorship tie is a strategic decision dependent on both actors. Empirical evidence from 1,600 potential mentorship relations suggest that asymmetric tie formation intentions are a product of mismatched configurations of surface- and deep-level similarity, complementarity, expectations, and familiarity between the mentor and the team. Contradictory to often evoked similarity attraction arguments, under conditions of uncertainty and high stakes reciprocal intentions were formed between dissimilar mentors and start-up teams. We introduce a new perspective encompassing diversity research in studying entrepreneurial mentoring ties and pinpoint the factors leading to tie formation asymmetries, representing missed opportunities for entrepreneurs.