A long-standing view in the literature on international new ventures (INV) was that the liabilities of smallness, newness and foreignness that adhere to INVs were offset by some sort of ownership advantage, usually in the form of a superior product or technology. However, recent empirical work has demonstrated the existence of INVs in a wide range of industries, including traditional industries where hi-tech knowledge was not a factor. In this paper, we argue that the formation of a business network of stakeholders willing to commit resources to the INV is both a necessary and sufficient condition to justify the formation of an INV. We propose that international social competence and social astuteness are characteristics that encourage the development of these entrepreneurial networks and that these entrepreneurial networks make INVs more competitive in the global market.