Going Alone or Together? A Configurational Analysis of Solo Founding vs. Cofounding

Research and practice suggest that cofounded ventures outperform solo-founded ventures. Yet, little work has explored the conditions under which solo founding might be preferable to cofounding. Combining an inductive case-oriented analysis with a Qualitative Comparative Analysis of 70 new entrepreneurial ventures, we examine why and how solo founders can be as successful as their peers in cofounded ventures. We find that successful solo founders strategically use a set of cocreators rather than cofounders to overcome liabilities, retain control, and mobilize resources in unique and unexpected ways. A primary contribution of this paper is an emergent configurational theory of entrepreneurial organizing. Overall, we reveal the broader significance and theoretical importance of adopting a configurational lens for both practitioners and scholars of entrepreneurship.

External Interfaces or Internal Processes? Market Positioning and Divergent Professionalization Paths in Young Ventures

We explore how the initial market positioning of entrepreneurial ventures shapes how they professionalize over time, focusing specifically on the development of functional roles. In contrast to existing literature, which presumes a uniform march toward professionalization as ventures scale and complete developmental milestones, we advance a contingent perspective, distinguishing between the development of external interface functions (marketing & sales and customer development) and internal process functions (accounting, human resources, and finance). Specifically, we argue that positioning in an unconventional market space raises demand for external engagement that focuses ventures’ attention and resources toward developing external interface roles. At the same time, such unconventional ventures are less apt to elaborate their internal process roles relative to more conventional peers. We test these predictions using a novel longitudinal data set on the internal organizations of 3,748 U.S.-based entrepreneurial ventures. In contrast to common assumptions of convergent professionalization, our theory and findings advance the perspective that ventures pursue divergent professionalization paths based on their initial market positioning as they scale up.

Digital defenses

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings All organizations need cybersecurity solutions to function in the digital age. For entrepreneurial ventures, what is required varies on their need for privacy, and how digitally adept they already are. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Entrepreneurship Innovation

The global COVID-19 pandemic has created opportunities for the emergence of new entrepreneurial innovations. This has resulted in many individuals being left with no choice but to pursue entrepreneurial ventures because they have either lost their jobs, or breadwinners have succumbed to the virus. The objective of this chapter is to outline the entrepreneurial mindset in detail and how shifts are required to cope with today's uncertain times. An analysis of current extant literature was explored, and cogent findings were used to develop a theoretical framework for entrepreneurial innovation in a post-pandemic society. The literature in this chapter indicated the need for understanding the impact of the current global pandemic on entrepreneurial innovation in order to provide recommendations for policymakers that can stimulate creativity, innovation, and better education in the post-pandemic era.

Contemporary limitations and opportunities for entrepreneurship development in southern Serbia

The entrepreneurial ecosystem consists of many elements: government policy, regulatory framework, institutions, finance, culture, education, human capital, local and global markets, and only the harmonization of these elements can create a healthy and stimulating environment for further development entrepreneurial ventures. Efforts have been made to improve the business environment in the Republic of Serbia to reduce the number of unemployed. However, entrepreneurship in Serbia faces several limitations. Some restrictions are specific to specific groups of entrepreneurs only, while others are general. This article will discuss the constraints and opportunities for developing entrepreneurship in Serbia in current business conditions, with particular reference to entrepreneurship research in the city of Vranje in southern Serbia.

How can biases affect entrepreneurial decision making? toward a behavioral approach to unicorns

How can cognitive biases affect the birth and evolution of entrepreneurial ventures? In Entrepreneurial Decision Making (EDM), this lively research question remains largely unaddressed when the world of Unicorns, as a per se entrepreneurial species, is considered. Thus, through this conceptual article, we aim to contribute toward knowledge creation in this context. We start by proposing a conceptual framework of Unicorns’ EDM based on a behavioral approach. Through three propositions, this novel framework advances how the birth, transition, and consolidation of a Unicorn may be explained by the sequentially intertwined occurrence of biases, from which establishment and legitimization eventually emerge. We complement the framework with examples from the social media industry and then discuss its main implications for theory and practice.

“I Urge Young People not to Rush to Leave for the Great Europe” : On Entrepreneurship in Organic Production in Serbia from an Anthropological Perspective

Our research is based on the assumption that in the period after 2008, designated as the “mature stage” of the second transition, decision-makers and experts in the phenomenon of organic production discursively shaped a common, though fundamentally ambivalent system of cognitive ideas and notions relating to this issue and its various aspects, which is designated in this paper as the concept of entrepreneurship in organic production in Serbia. For the purposes of our research, this concept is understood as a mythical notion, as it were, in accordance with the definition of the concept of the myth put forward by the French semiotician Roland Barthes, for whom the myth is a form of speech, a certain discursive formation, and everything that is discourse-related can be a myth. Through an analysis of structural and semantic aspects of the concept of entrepreneurship in organic production in Serbia, the paper looks at both the mechanism of articulation of this concept within expert and public discourse and at its implications, the way in which it is linked to the concrete entrepreneurial ventures of two migrants-returnees, whose entrepreneurial stories have a significant explanatory value in terms of the topic of this paper. The paper aims to highlight the contradictions involved in the concept of entrepreneurship in Serbian organic production and draw attention to the possibility of their creative resolution on the plane of individual ways of thinking and acting in this sphere of entrepreneurship, and also to point to the relationship between two categories that from an anthropological point of view are mutually permeable, namely, the categories of “myth” and “reality”.

Strategic Business Model Development in Ecosystems

<p>Designing and strategically developing viable business models is vital for value creation and capture and in turn for the survival and performance of entrepreneurial ventures. However, the widely held firm-centric and static business model perspective appears inadequate to reflect the realities of increasingly blurred industry boundaries, interconnected economies, and the resulting collapse of incumbent value chains. This PhD thesis adds understanding of the dynamic business model development process from an ecosystem perspective. The evolution of ten entrepreneurial ventures’ business models was documented and investigated through longitudinal in-depth case studies over twelve months. Analysing and comparing the cases revealed strategies that resulted in the development of effective interactive structures and robust value co-creation and capture mechanisms. The development of interactive structures, i.e. firm-ecosystem fits, was either supported by a focused or diversified ecosystem integration approach underpinned by heterogeneous interdependencies of value proposition and business model components across ecosystems. The obtained insights allowed the derivation of sets of capabilities that supported the business model development process and enhanced entrepreneurial ventures’ chances of survival. The findings have several implications for advancements of the business model theory. In particular they indicate what integration strategies can inform entrepreneurs’ and managers’ business model design and execution strategies for operating in increasingly complex ecosystems.</p>

Strategic Business Model Development in Ecosystems

<p>Designing and strategically developing viable business models is vital for value creation and capture and in turn for the survival and performance of entrepreneurial ventures. However, the widely held firm-centric and static business model perspective appears inadequate to reflect the realities of increasingly blurred industry boundaries, interconnected economies, and the resulting collapse of incumbent value chains. This PhD thesis adds understanding of the dynamic business model development process from an ecosystem perspective. The evolution of ten entrepreneurial ventures’ business models was documented and investigated through longitudinal in-depth case studies over twelve months. Analysing and comparing the cases revealed strategies that resulted in the development of effective interactive structures and robust value co-creation and capture mechanisms. The development of interactive structures, i.e. firm-ecosystem fits, was either supported by a focused or diversified ecosystem integration approach underpinned by heterogeneous interdependencies of value proposition and business model components across ecosystems. The obtained insights allowed the derivation of sets of capabilities that supported the business model development process and enhanced entrepreneurial ventures’ chances of survival. The findings have several implications for advancements of the business model theory. In particular they indicate what integration strategies can inform entrepreneurs’ and managers’ business model design and execution strategies for operating in increasingly complex ecosystems.</p>