Social capital of venture capitalists and start-up funding

How does the social capital of venture capitalists (VCs) affect the funding of start-ups? By building on the rich social capital literature, we hypothesize a positive effect of VCs' social capital, derived from past syndication, on the amount of money that start-ups receive. Specifically, we argue that both structural and relational aspects of VCs' social networks provide VCs with superior access to information about current investment objects and opportunities to leverage them in the future, increasing their willingness to invest in these firms. Our empirical results, derived from a novel dataset containing more than 1,500 first funding rounds in the Internet and IT sector, strongly confirm our hypotheses. We discuss the implications of our findings for theories of venture capital and entrepreneurship, showing that the role and effect of VCs' social capital on start-up firms may be more complex than previously argued in the literature

The impact of canine-assisted intervention on stress reduction among university students in Thailand.

Stress negatively impacts university students, leading to adverse outcomes. While canine-assisted intervention (CAI) has been shown to reduce self-reported stress, no studies have investigated stress levels and associated biomarkers in dogs and students simultaneously. This study examined salivary cortisol, blood pressure, and pulse rate in 122 university students experiencing self-reported moderate to high stress before an encounter with a dog (T1), immediately before meeting a dog (T2), and after spending 15 minutes interacting with a dog (T3). Participants assessed their stress level using a visual analog scale, and blood pressure and pulse rate were measured at three time points. Salivary cortisol was also measured at T1 and T3. Six privately owned dogs, all in good health and comfortable with strangers, participated in the intervention sessions. Salivary and fecal cortisol samples from the dogs were collected in the morning before commencing activities, at noon, and in the evening after human interactions ended. The results showed that the expectation of interacting with dogs reduces self-reported stress, pulse rate, and salivary cortisol, which remained significantly lower after the interaction. Salivary cortisol concentrations in dogs did not differ throughout the day. By contrast, fecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations during the week dogs interacted with students were higher (P =  0.0012) than those during the week post-experiment, which, based on behavior, appeared to indicate positive stimulation. These findings highlight the potential of integrating CAI into university stress management programs. Future research could explore extending these benefits to community dogs, long-term effects, and enhancing accessibility to this form of stress relief