In this study, we investigate the effects of aspects of venture performance such as sales productivity on entrepreneurial human capital in high-technology SMEs from four small business development centers within the European Union. Results indicate that education has a positive impact on sales productivity when analyzing the product skills possessed by the CEO-owner prior to starting up the firm and the business skills acquired once the firm is up and running. It has been shown that there is a link between sales productivity and a tradition of CEO-owners in the family, and that this relation is positive in cases where the family venture has experienced failure and a negative relation in successful cases.
To develop this analysis a test has been carried out in firms non-randomly selected, but following a criteria opinatic and of representativeness. The test were carried out in different period o time.