Toxic or transformative? How lead founder machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy shape new venture team survival

Purpose Drawing on conservation of resources theory, this study theorizes and tests the relationships between lead founder Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy and new venture team survival, as channeled through the mediating role of individual team member burnout. Design/methodology/approach Hypotheses are tested using time-lagged data from 52 new venture teams (N = 52 lead founders and 198 team members). Findings Lead founder narcissism is positively associated with team survival, psychopathy is negatively associated with survival, and each of these relationships is mediated by burnout. No support was found for a relationship between lead founder Machiavellianism and burnout, but post hoc analyses revealed a U-shaped curvilinear relationship with burnout. Originality/value This study extends existing research on the Dark Triad traits by shifting focus from solo entrepreneurs or traditional organizational leaders to new venture teams. By highlighting the complex and context-dependent nature of each of these traits, this research offers novel insights into how leader personality impacts new venture team survival, channeled through burnout, in high-interdependence, resource-constrained environments.