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Despite their increasing importance in innovation, employment creation and economic growth, there is a dearth of theory-driven research on the financing and capital structure of new technology-based firms (NTBFs).¹ Hogan and Hutson (2005a) advance the High-Technology Pecking Order Hypothesis (HTPOH) to explain the role of equity in the financing of NTBFs in the software product sector. The HTPOH posits that NTBFs exhibit a hierarchical pattern of financing that gives precedence to internal sources, but if external financing is required, equity is preferred to debt. This study investigates the extent to which the genesis of the NTBF affects its financing patterns?

Policymakers have long supported the development of venture capital markets on the basis that venture capital fills a perceived gap in the availability of early stage seed capital funding for new technology-based firms (NTBFs).¹ Support from policymakers, however, has not been matched by academic research on NTBF financing. This is a major concern because NTBF financing is not well understood. The theoretical focus of this chapter is the life cycle or stage model of financing, which has proved the dominate paradigm in the analysis of financing in NTBFs. It is particularly relevant to this study, as the stage model is explicitly endorsed by venture capitalists who structure deals in phases in order to effectively monitor the investee firm's progress (Sahlman, 1990).