The Valorising Pitch: How Digital Start‐ups Leverage Intermediary Coverage
研究数字初创企业如何通过“价值提升的推介”吸引行业分析师报道，揭示中介不仅识别、更创造企业价值的过程，对创业者理解如何获取中介支持有参考意义。
Abstract As an unknown quantity, new ventures rely on influential intermediaries to endorse them. However, in some areas, like digital entrepreneurship, there is fierce competition for intermediary attention. Failing to garner intermediary support can mean ventures lack the resources needed to prosper. Still, it is unclear how they attract coverage, how intermediaries evaluate those vying for attention, and what influence this has on venture development. We conducted qualitative inductive research on how digital ventures sought coverage from industry analysts. Our process model of intermediary evaluation shows how ventures must perform a ‘valorising pitch’ to move from being an unknown quantity to engaging the intermediary to being valorised. Drawing on valuation studies scholarship, we propose an enhanced model of intermediary evaluation that depicts industry analysts as not just identifying but also ‘creating’ the value of ventures. We offer contributions to the literature on new venture development, intermediaries and digital entrepreneurship.