Through interviews with and analysis of the portfolio of French VCs in Silicon Valley, Professor Ferary is examining ties between VCs and entrepreneurs based on nationality, education and professional background. He describes how French venture capitalists use the French network in their businesses and how they try to get inside others' social networks to increase their resources and accumulate social capital. An exchange theory based on the gift exchange theory can be used for understanding VC behavior and relations. Currently a visiting scholar at Stanford's Sociology Department, Michel Ferary is an assistant professor at Essec School of Management in Paris, France. He earned a PhD in business administration from HEC (France) and worked for three years as a consultant in financial services for Andersen Consulting and Gemini Consulting. In addition to current work on French VCs in Silicon Valley, Professor Ferary's research focuses on the function of social networks in the financial risk evaluation done by bankers.