Mia Krishnamurthy is graduating with a Sociology major with minors in Business and Inequality Studies from Cornell. Her interest in high-technology regions, start-up culture, entrepreneurship, and venture capital directed her to take Dr. Sullivan’s course “the Sociology of High-Tech Regions”
Mia explained that during the course, they studied “the fall of Boston’s tech cluster, the rise of Silicon Valley, and the development of secondary tech regions.” She highlighted that the flexible nature of Professor Sullivan’s class, encouraged them to study a topic that was relevant to their personal and professional growth.
Professor Sullivan noted how Krishnamurthy used courses in the sociology of high-tech regions, the sociology of organizations, and economic sociology, some taught by him or by Professor Nee, to explore her professional passion.
While studying Silicon Valley’s genesis Krishnamurthy chose to explore the distinct role that venture capital played in the startup culture through a sociological perspective. This subject is the topic of her Thesis "Spatial Distributions and Regional Agglomeration of High-Tech Regions and Venture Capital.", that was published by a new undergraduate research journal organized by The Cornell Undergraduate Research Board CURB.
This is a new journal created by a team of undergraduates and graduate student advisors, professors, and administrators working together. Professor Sullivan commented on how relevant is the creation of this journal with the particularly stressful conditions due to the pandemic emphasizing that “this is a very special accomplishment”
After graduation Mia Krishnamurthy will be working this summer with General Atlantic, a venture capital investment firm in New York City with deep roots to Cornell University, commented Professor Sullivan.
Introduction to the paper:
In this paper, I will closely examine the Mark Granovetter’s theories related to economic sociology and embeddedness. I will then apply those theories to the study of venture capital and high technology regions. My main research question encompasses the role of networks and social relations and their impact on the formation and development of high-technology clusters. Regions such as Silicon Valley (Greater Bay Area) and Route 128 (Greater Boston Area) are known as knowledge economies and contribute to great economic growth and innovation. While Anna Lee Saxenian spent her time researching the sociology of the emergence of Silicon Valley as a high-tech cluster, I will add to this research by applying the framework she used to study the role of networks within venture capital in Silicon Valley. Venture capital is particularly fascinating to study since this funding is the main driver stimulating local entrepreneurship and the regional economy
Read the complete paper here: The Cornell Undergraduate Research Journal, Spring 2022, Volume 1, Issue I, pp. 30-35,35.
