Should start-ups embrace a strategic approach toward integrating foreign stakeholders into their network?

In our attempt to determine whether startups should embrace a strategic approach toward foreign actors’ networks, we analyzed the composition of their networks and evaluated the contribution of different players by comparing the foreign versus the local networks. This empirical study, based on 402 Israeli startups that exited via cross-border M&A (2002–2009), shows that foreign stakeholders, although a burden during the early stage when the local stakeholders are contributing, in fact increase the likelihood of success of the startup’s exit via cross-border M&A. We suggest that startups embrace a strategy of building and maintaining networks with foreign stakeholders from the early stage.