The Role of Entrepreneurial Orientation on Angel Investors’ Investment Decisions: A Study of Turkish Angel Investors

Angel investors, defined as “informal investors providing risk capital to new ventures”, play an important role in funding and acquiring resources for firms. They are the primary source of risk capital for new ventures, especially during the initial years. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors affecting angel investors’ investment behavior. Collecting data from seven Turkish-resident angel investors by in-depth interview method, this study investigates the factors behind investment decisions of angel investors, how they participate in different activities of the firms and the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and angel investment decisions. Authors find that return on investment is not the only factor behind investment decisions of angel investors. In addition, dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation (risk taking, innovativeness and proactiveness) are found to be important predictors of angel investors’ investment decisions. Angel investors exhibit entrepreneurial-oriented behavior. Moreover, the study provides support for the argument that angel investors participate in the marketing, financial and management decisions of the firms in which they invest.