Do women entrepreneurs influence their start-up’s exit? Entrepreneurial identity and firm exit in high-tech

• We examine exits of startups led by entrepreneurial teams that include women. • We argue women’s entrepreneurial identity behaviors that drive exits are inhibited. • We use data on 3743 startups and the gender of their entrepreneurs and managers. • We find a negative association between women entrepreneurs and their startups’ exit. • This negative association is attenuated when women managers are present. Women are the fastest-growing segment of entrepreneurs but remain a distinct minority in entrepreneurship. Drawing on entrepreneurial identity theory, we suggest that women’s distinctiveness within the male-majority entrepreneurial context shapes their entrepreneurial identity and limits engagement in behaviors crucial for firm exit through IPOs or M&As. We further propose that women managers (outside the founding team) mitigate this effect by reducing perceived distinctiveness and fostering entrepreneurial identity. We empirically test the association between the presence of women entrepreneurs in founding teams and real-world firm exits using data from 3743 technology start-ups across seven industries. Our findings show that founding teams with women entrepreneurs are negatively associated with firm exits and that this negative association is attenuated when women hold management positions. Our study highlights factors that shape women’s entrepreneurial identity, links it to firm exit, and shows that women’s presence on founding teams is an overlooked determinant of firm exit.