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We conduct a randomized field experiment (RFE) to assess whether startup firms perceive accounting expertise as an important investor credential. We send 13,358 unsolicited and unique emails to active startup firms across the US, showing an interest in them with a proposition to meet a bogus investor. The experiment has high response rates, with 4,535 (33.94%) opened emails and 828 (6.19%) website visits, reflecting investors’ proliferating practice of outbound origination to contact new startups. Our RFE compares startup reactions to fictitious investors with certified public accountant (CPA) designations versus two control groups: investors without credentials and those with other professional licenses. Startup firms are 48% likelier to read unsolicited emails from CPA-bearing investors and 47% likelier to visit their websites, relative to investors with a medical license. We document an analogous preference for …