PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Edel Barnes AU - Edward Cahill AU - Yvonne McCarthy TI - Grandstanding in the U.K. Venture Capital Industry AID - 10.3905/jai.2003.319100 DP - 2003 Dec 31 TA - The Journal of Alternative Investments PG - 60--80 VI - 6 IP - 3 4099 - https://pm-research.com/content/6/3/60.short 4100 - https://pm-research.com/content/6/3/60.full AB - This article speaks to the hypothesis that young venture capital firms take companies public earlier than older venture firms in order to establish a reputation and successfully raise capital for new funds. Consistent with the extant literature, evidence from a sample of 85 IPOs on the London Stock Exchange over the period 1992-99 suggests that companies backed by young venture firms are indeed younger at IPO than those backed by more established firms, and young venture firms have shorter board representation. There is little evidence to suggest greater underpricing for young VCF investments, nor do young VCFs hold relatively small equity stakes. Older VCFs raise larger follow-on funds, but there is no significant differential in timing of those funds. Overall, this study suggests that there is insufficient evidence as yet to unambiguously support the significance of grandstanding as a feature of the U.K. venture capital industry.