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Entrepreneurship is a social role, suggesting that different communities and societies will hold different typical expectations for who the entrepreneur should be (i.e., personal characteristics) and how an entrepreneur acts (behaviors). In this chapter, we describe the results of two studies that elucidate the content of the entrepreneur’s role and assess its generalizability and cultural uniqueness in three cultures: the United States, China, and Taiwan. We do so by examining the prototypes, or culturally shared implicit theories or schema that individuals hold about the attributes and behaviors characterizing the entrepreneur’s role. We suggest that the entrepreneur prototype has overlapping content across these three cultures, and that they also reflect cultural uniqueness due to different political, economic, and social histories and conditions. First, we conducted an initial inductive study designed to elicit a comprehensive list of representative characteristics and behaviors that are commonly recognized in each society as typical of an “entrepreneur,” resulting in an inclusive list of 87 prototypical/anti-prototypical items. These items were subsequently used in a survey-based study to assess the specific content that each culture endorses as prototypical of an entrepreneur, the extent to which those prototypes varied across the three cultures, and relationships of prototype evaluation with individuals’ personal values and exposure to entrepreneurship. Results showed that prototypes were distinct in each culture, but with some overlap of attributes, especially between China and Taiwan. Results showed some support for the relationship between top-ranked prototypical attributes and individuals’ exposure to entrepreneurship as well as openness-to-change values and conservation values, but also interesting differences in these relationships in the three cultures. The findings highlight that role prototype formation processes across these cultures were etic, but that the content of the role may well be emic or culturally specific.

This paper investigates how a new entrepreneurial identity forms in conjunction with prior work-related identities during sponsored self-employment after an emotional job loss.

The authors empirically examine why some dismissed employees failed and others succeeded in transitioning from a wage-earner career via corporate sponsorship to a career as an entrepreneur, investigating how those employees meaningfully constructed (or did not) an entrepreneurial identity.

The authors' findings show that the simultaneous preservation of central attributes of prior work-related identities and the engenderment of new entrepreneurial attributes support the formation of an entrepreneurial identity and that a liminal state, in which people practice entrepreneurship at work, may facilitate identity transition.

This paper demonstrates that the initial entrepreneurial endeavor is based on prior work-related identity and identity congruence between prior work-related identities and a projected entrepreneurial identity is of great importance for the identity transition. However, the authors also show that incongruence may in some cases turn into congruence if entrepreneurs are given the opportunity to experiment with provisional entrepreneurial selves in a risk-free environment (so-called liminal states).

The purpose of this paper is to obtain evidence concerning the basic dimensions included in cognitive prototypes pertaining to opportunity recognition and decision to launch a new venture; identifying the underlying dimensions of both prototypes – the cognitive frameworks current or nascent entrepreneurs employ in performing these important tasks.

The bi-dimensional models were tested in a sample of 284 founder entrepreneurs, using a 48-item questionnaire. It was used as structural equation confirmatory factor analysis to compare fit indices of uni-dimensional second-order and third-order bi-dimensional models of business opportunity and decision to launch a venture.

Results support the bi-dimensional models and offer support that both prototypes include two basic dimensions. For the business opportunity prototype these are viability and distinctiveness while for the decision to launch a new venture, the basic dimensions are feasibility and motivational aspects.

These results help to further clarify the nature of the cognitive frameworks individuals use to identify potential opportunities and reach an initial decision about whether to pursue their development. Uncovering the cognitive functioning of opportunity recognition and decision to exploit it, allow individuals to recognize opportunities easier and successfully; and to make more accurate and effective decisions.

Knowing the basic dimensions of opportunity and decision-making prototypes contributes to develop effective skills with respect to business opportunity recognition among students enrolled in entrepreneurship programs. These surveys can be used for self-assessment and also for investors, tutors, and entrepreneurship agents in order to help evaluate features of business opportunities and decision to launch a venture.

This study embraces a conceptual contribution, proposing a different model of the business opportunity and decision to exploit prototypes, and it extends Baron and Ensley (2006) previous work, to another important step in the entrepreneurial process – the decision to develop an identified opportunity through the launch of a new venture.

If we are to better understand what it means to think “sustainably,” the entrepreneurship literature suggests that entrepreneurial cognition offers us two powerful tools. Human cognition operates with two nearly parallel systems for information processing, intentional and automatic. Entrepreneurial cognition has long focused on how entrepreneurial thinking and action are inherently intentional. Thus, intentions-based approaches are needed to understand how to encourage the identification of actionable sustainable opportunities. But first, however, we need to address key elements of our automatic processing, anchored on deep assumptions and beliefs. In short, if sustainable entrepreneurship is about addressing sustainable opportunities, then before we can take advantage of research into entrepreneurial intentions, we need a better understanding of how we enact our deep mental models of constructs such as “sustainable.”

This paper investigates the user entrepreneurship process in the video game industry, and how this process is influenced by the interactions between user entrepreneurs and communities.

The paper presents an exploratory multiple case study on 17 firms founded in the video game industry by Italian users.

The findings show that in most of the cases analysed, innovation by users precedes identification of the entrepreneurial opportunity. This research identifies three categories of communities that provide different forms of support to user entrepreneurs: communities of (1) gamers/users, (2) developers/innovators and (3) entrepreneurs. Given the different role played, the three categories of communities have a different relevance during the various phases of the innovation and entrepreneurial path: communities of gamers/users and of developers/innovators affect innovation development and opportunity identification, while communities of entrepreneurs help users to evolve from opportunity recognition to the start-up of a firm.

This study investigates the video game industry, a context in which user entrepreneurship is under-researched and that is characterized by the intangible nature of the products (while previous studies have mainly focused on physical goods). It contributes to extant literature by revealing that, at the beginning of the end-user entrepreneurial process, there may be not only unmet needs but also “excitement-driven” innovations. Moreover, by analysing the whole entrepreneurial path, the study shows how three categories of communities (gamers/users, developers/innovators and entrepreneurs) provide different forms of support to user entrepreneurs in the different phases of the entrepreneurial process.

The purpose of this research study is to empirically investigate the Figma prototyping technology adoption factors among entrepreneurship and innovation libraries for providing support to startups by developing and evolving the prototype solutions in collaboration with health libraries.

This study uses the technology adoption model (TAM) as a framework and the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method of structural equation modeling (SEM) using SmartPLS 3.2.9 software version to investigate the prototyping adoption factors among entrepreneurship and innovation libraries for rural health innovations. A total of 40 libraries, spread over 16 entrepreneurship and innovation libraries, participated in this survey, including participants from Europe (35%), Asia (15%) and USA (50%).

The findings show that previous experience, social impact, brand image and system quality have a significant positive impact on entrepreneurship and innovation libraries' perceived usefulness (PU) of prototyping technology. Perceived ease of use of prototype technology is positively influenced by usability, training materials and documentation, experience and self-efficacy. Together, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use have a significant influence on behavioural intention. Behavioural intention is positively impacted by minimal investment and shallow learning curve. Technology adoption is furthered by behavioural intention. The control variables, for instance location, gender and work experience (as librarian), were found not having any impact on Figma technology adoption.

Through strategic partnerships with other libraries (including health libraries), policymakers, and technology providers, the adoption of prototype technology can be further accelerated. The important ramifications for policymakers, technology providers, public and entrepreneurship and innovation libraries to create a self-reliant innovation ecosystem to foster rural health innovation based on entrepreneurship are also listed in the article.

This research is distinctive since it integrates several areas of study, including entre, advances in rural healthcare and libraries. A novel idea that hasn't been thoroughly investigated is the collaboration between entrepreneurship and innovation libraries and health libraries for supporting businesses. This study offers insights into the factors that drive technology adoption and offers practical advice for policymakers and technology providers. It also advances understanding of the adoption of Figma prototyping technology among libraries for rural health innovation. Overall, this study provides a novel viewpoint on the nexus between different disciplines, showing the opportunity for cooperation and innovation in favour of rural health.

To provide first insights into under which conditions innovative users start entrepreneurial activities and finally become manufacturers themselves.

Concrete innovation projects were chosen as the unit of analysis and a multi‐case comparison methodology was applied. In‐depth interviews on the basis of a semi‐structured interview guideline were conducted. Furthermore, archival data were used. A rigorous content analysis framework was applied to analyse the collected data.

Those users that were the original investors in the innovations established and organized the required innovation networks. A high problem pressure, an active role of users in the idea generation phase, a high degree of innovativeness of the prospective product, and missing competencies as well as missing resources explain the entrepreneurial role of users.

For the empirical study the focus was on the industry of medical equipment technology. This raises questions with respect to the generalizability of the results. Further research in other industries is needed to cross‐validate the results.

One important implication for corporate practice is to systematically identify and leverage entrepreneurial users for their innovation work. Thus, parts of the R&D and marketing function can be outsourced.

A new role for users in the innovation process is identified and an explanatory framework provided to better understand antecedents of this phenomenon.

This chapter is focused in a methodological frame to study the practices of entrepreneurial agents and the startups in nontechnological sectors in the middle-income countries. The startup of ideas involves three phases that comprise the first life cycle of a possible company considering too sociocultural aspects as external factors implied in the creation, prototype, and entry to markets. In Latin America, the type of risks experienced by companies in their early stages of life and incubation are not known in a timely manner. The lack of information on entrepreneurship and its agents in countries such as Mexico also inhibits visualization of heterogeneity of contexts to business development, and how some regions are more propensity to boost startups than others, in different sectorial and branches of knowledge. Mexico like rest countries in Latin America has a high percentage of SMEs focused in sectors that are innovative but not are participating in the last technological waves. For this reason, it is necessary to know how these agents prepare, manage, and apply entrepreneurship in accordance with institutional, technological, and sociocultural dispositions to structure their experiences and make more vigorous the territorial entrepreneurial. Small and medium businesses are building new paths taking advantage of territorial and cultural opportunities. Applying the framework proposed in the last part of this chapter is presented a case of study of an entrepreneur oriented to craft brewer production in Tijuana, Mexico.

Entrepreneurial opportunity (EO) identification pertains to the core processes of entrepreneurship and innovation. The initial phase of this process starts with individual cognition, which is why cognition has been established as a critical theoretical perspective.

Knowledge and new information have been confirmed as essential cognitive impact factors. However, it is not understood well, how individuals apply those factors and how they actually identify innovative and economically viable EOs. To address the limitations of current research, this chapter investigates the current literature on underlying cognitive processes of opportunity identification.

The literature analysis demonstrates that there is not a single cognitive process but rather a magnitude of different micro-mechanisms that are necessary for the successful identification of EOs. The findings are grouped to four categories of cognitive processes and entail their micro-mechanisms: pattern recognition, information processing, and creative thinking. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that those micro-mechanisms have seldom been related to each other within the scope of opportunity identification. This chapter closes this gap by discussing and contrasting and the different process categories and respective micro-mechanisms and suggests an integrative theory development and avenues for future research.

The goal of this research is to investigate the relationship between two different sets of practices, lean startup and business planning, and their relation to entrepreneurial performance.

The authors collected data from 120 entrepreneurs across the US about a variety of new venture formation activities within the categories of lean startup or business planning. They use hierarchical regression to examine the relationship between these activities and new venture performance using both a subjective and objective measure of performance.

The results show that talking to customers, collecting preorders and pivoting based on customer feedback are lean startup activities correlated with performance; writing a business plan is the sole business planning activity correlated with performance.

This research lays the foundation for understanding the components of both lean startup and business planning. Moreover, these results demonstrate that the separation of lean startup and business planning represents a false dichotomy.

These findings suggest that entrepreneurs should engage in some lean startup activities and still write a business plan.

This article offers the first quantitative, empirical comparison of lean startup activities and business planning. Furthermore, it provides support for the relationship between specific lean startup activities and firm performance.