The interaction between social and human capital of migrant entrepreneurs is important for understanding their strategies and hence performance of their ventures, yet, how they deploy social ties to overcome resource scarcities in the creation of their ventures is less understood. Based on 15 case studies of transnational entrepreneurs (TEs) of Indian origin in the UK, we explore the role of the nature of prior experience of TEs in the use of social ties in the founding of transnational ventures (TNVs) in their home country. Our findings show that the way TEs use social ties in the host and home countries is contingent on whether they have prior experience of a) entering the home country and b) implementing the business opportunity underlying the TNV in the home country, respectively, with a former employer. The implications of these findings are discussed.