In this paper, we consider the first enlargement of the managerial ranks of entrepreneurial ventures since firm foundation. This can occur either by taking on board a new owner-manager or by appointing a salaried manager who reports to the entrepreneurial team. In order to analyze this phenomenon we propose a novel interpretative framework that acknowledges the presence of multi-level drivers. We provide a series of hypotheses and investigate them empirically through the estimates of survival data analysis and competing risks models on a sample of Italian New Technology-Based Firms observed over the 1994-2003 year period. The empirical analysis indicates that the addition of a new owner-manager and the appointment of a salaried manager are two faces of the same coin, having several common antecedents at different levels. However, it also reveals some specific drivers of the two events.