Henrik Lekkas
Title
Prof. Dr.
Last Name
Lekkas
First name
Henrik
Email
henrik.lekkas@unisg.ch
Phone
+41 71 224 71 06
Web Site
3 results
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Item type:Publication, To Crush the Pitch, Skip the Suit(Harvard Business Review, 2026-02-01); ; ; - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Appearance-Based Legitimate Distinctiveness: Founder Attractiveness, Gender, and Venture Evaluations(SAGE Publications, 2026-09-28); ; ; ; This study proposes a way to reconcile the beauty premium and beauty-is-beastly arguments by suggesting that founder appearance is processed through two separable and countervailing channels: perceived legitimacy and perceived distinctiveness. We further theorize that in startups, the relationship is gendered, because women do not fit the entrepreneurial prototype, limiting their perceived legitimacy. A field study of 359 founders supports our theorizing that male founders are evaluated best when moderately attractive, while female founders see no significant attractiveness effects. A preregistered experiment with 771 participants, using AI-manipulated attractiveness, does not confirm these patterns but supports our theorizing about both mediators.Type:journal articleJournal:Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, How Women Can Improve Their Venture Pitch OutcomesType:journal articleJournal:MIT Sloan Management Review