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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between an individual's personal acquaintance with an entrepreneur and his/her participation in entrepreneurial activity at three distinct new venture stages: discovery (intending to start a business), start‐up (actively in the process of starting a business), and young (running a business for less than three months).

Using Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data from 35 countries (n=311,720) pooled across three years (2002‐2004) and multinomial logistic regression, the paper examines the relationship between entrepreneurial networking and entrepreneurial participation across gender. Gender differences in entrepreneurial networking are also examined.

The findings indicate that individuals who personally know an entrepreneur are more likely to participate in entrepreneurial activity at any venture stage but that female entrepreneurs, compared with their male counterparts, are less likely to be acquainted with an entrepreneur. Taken together, these findings suggest that one of the reasons why women are less likely to become entrepreneurs is that they lack entrepreneurial resource providers or role models in their social networks.

The paper is subject to two limitations. First, the paper includes a single item measure of social network composition. Second, although the paper includes data from 2000 to 2004, the dataset is cross‐sectional and is thus based on different cohorts of participants. The paper offers a number of implications for theory, practice, and future research. One of the most important implications is that female entrepreneurship participation could be enhanced by policy directed at promoting female entrepreneur role models and connecting women with entrepreneurs.

The paper utilizes a representative sample of 311,720 individuals in 35 countries. Entrepreneurs are classified as operating at three distinct phases of the entrepreneurial process: discovery, start‐up, and young and the relationship between entrepreneurial networking and entrepreneurship participation is examined within each of these phases.

There are many known reasons why hot start‐ups fail – new technologies, new markets, new distribution channels, inexperienced management teams, etc. – but an unquestionably critical factor is the leadership ability of the entrepreneurial CEO. Conventional wisdom states that professional managers should replace founders because they customarily do not have the necessary leadership skills and experience to further the continued growth of the organization. Recent research, however, has found no evidence that professional managers perform better in high‐growth firms than the original founder. This investigation analyzed the experiences of 27 entrepreneurial CEOs who successfully defied conventional wisdom by leading their organizations from tenuous start‐up to professionally managed enterprise. The research revealed two distinct sets of leadership competencies – labeled self competencies and functional competencies – required of entrepreneurs aspiring to remain at the helm of growth‐driven high‐tech firms.

Using an entrepreneurial network perspective, this article seeks to investigate the involvement of family members during early stages of the entrepreneurial process – the time from intention until the business is established.

A multivariate statistical regression analysis was carried out on data generated through two associated data collections: the Danish Global Entrepreneurship Monitor population survey and a connected follow‐up survey using the name‐generator approach.

The survey results reveal that the family members’ involvement differs depending on the phase of the entrepreneurial process. Family members are most strongly involved in the emergence phase when the final decision to start or not has to be made. Furthermore, involvement of family members is most common when entrepreneurs are young and have higher education of no more than three years duration. Family members tend to be males with whom entrepreneurs have strong ties and these family members tend to be more critical than other actors in other role‐relationships.

The article provides empirical support for a family embedded perspective on entrepreneurship.

The study uses a representative sample of entrepreneurs across four phases of the entrepreneurial process which enables an investigation on how family inclusion changes during the entrepreneurial process.

Entrepreneurial ecosystems, the inter-connected set of organizing forces that produce and sustain regional entrepreneurial activity, are receiving heightened attention. This research finds that narratives about ecosystem participants discursively construct entrepreneurial ecosystems. However, the studies do not emphasize ecosystem and region-level narratives, focus on ecosystems in which narratives are uncontested and, thus, do not examine how ecosystem narratives compete with other regional narratives. The purpose of this paper is to develop a theory that explains how narratives and entrepreneurial ecosystems emerge and change in response to existing regional narratives.

A longitudinal process model is proposed to explain how entrepreneurial ecosystem narratives emerge and compete with other regional narratives. To illustrate the phases of the model, archival data were collected from three entrepreneurial ecosystems where new narratives have had to overcome entrenched economic and cultural narratives.

It is theorized that entrepreneurial ecosystems emerge, in part, through discourse. For an entrepreneurial ecosystem to develop, a narrative must take hold that allows participants to make sense of the new entrepreneurial activities and the changes to the region. A four-phase process model is presented to explain how entrepreneurial ecosystem narratives compete with other regional narratives and, particularly, negative economic narratives.

The theory developed in this paper contributes to the research on entrepreneurial ecosystems and organizational narratives and generates practical implications for policymakers and entrepreneurs seeking to promote entrepreneurship as a tool for economic development.

The paper faces artificial intelligence issues in the venture creation process, exploring how artificial intelligence solutions intervene and forge the venture creation process. Drawing on the most recent literature on artificial intelligence and entrepreneurship, the authors propose a set of theoretical propositions.

The authors adopt a multiple case approach to assess propositions and analyse 4 case studies from which the authors provide (1) more detailed observation about entrepreneurial process phases influenced by artificial intelligence solutions and (2) more details about mechanics enabled by artificial intelligence.

The analysis demonstrates artificial intelligence contributes alongside the entrepreneurial process, enabling mechanisms that reduce costs or resources, generate new organizational processes but simultaneously expand the network needed for venture creation.

The paper adopts a deductive approach analyzing the contribution of AI-based startup offerings in changing the entrepreneurial process. Thus, the paper provides a practical view of the potentiality of artificial intelligence in enabling entrepreneurial processes through the analysis of compelling propositions and the technological ability of artificial intelligence solutions.

The field of entrepreneurship has seen a dramatic increase in studies focusing on networks and relations. Research in this area has thus far focused on how the structure and quality of entrepreneurs' existing interpersonal ties shape information access and thereby influence entrepreneurial outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to extend the focus further by examining how the entrepreneur's socio‐demographic profile affects advisory network configuration in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) context.

In this paper, the authors used Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) data, at the individual level (total early‐stage entrepreneurial activities) in 14 countries within the MENA region over the course of three years (2009, 2010 and 2011). The sample of networks is obtained from the entrepreneurs identified among the adults interviewed in the adult population survey of GEM participating countries from the MENA region.

Strong evidence was found that socio‐demographic variables such as gender, age, income and education have an impact on the usage of advice‐seeking networks by entrepreneurs across MENA. For instance, the findings suggest that women entrepreneurs in the MENA region tend to rely more on personal networks compared to male entrepreneurs.

The paper's contribution is novel in providing empirical evidence exposing the interplay between socio‐demographic factors, new venture start‐up phases, to entrepreneurial networks. Prospective scholarly research need to improve our understanding about the effects of network evolution on the entrepreneurial trajectory, as well to develop a greater understanding on how, when and why MENA‐based entrepreneurial networks emerge, develop and change over time.

The purpose of the paper is twofold: first, it develops a knowledge‐based view of the development of networks in new venture settings and second, it provides a dynamic view of knowledge networks. That is, it aims to pay attention to the development and destruction of networks.

The paper follows a grounded theory approach to develop the model of dynamic knowledge networks. The interviewees came from the following backgrounds: university researchers engaged in entrepreneurial ventures; entrepreneurs that run spin‐off companies; entrepreneurs in a university incubator or science park; incubator managers; university innovation managers; and innovation fund administrators.

The paper finds that the 3C model which is developed from qualitative findings has three core dimensions: knowledge exchange, knowledge structure and network dynamics that stretch across three key new venture phases: conceptualization, commercialization and cultivation. The paper also finds that entrepreneurs build networks because of their particular knowledge needs, once fulfilled these networks are destroyed and new networks are established. The 3C model therefore provides a dynamic perspective on knowledge networks.

The paper shows that a grounded theory approach is limited by it generalisability. The paper has developed a detailed view of knowledge networks in a particular context. Therefore, future research could usefully apply this model to other settings. It would also be useful to conduct further exploratory research into the interimistic nature of knowledge networks.

The paper points to the importance of cross‐boundary knowledge exchange. It needs to look beyond the boundary of a particular unit, such as a firm, to develop the understanding of the dynamics of knowledge management. Second, the context of the knowledge network becomes important managerially. The network has a purpose. It is knowledge‐need driven and this purpose changes remarkably over time. Finally, the creative destruction of knowledge networks needs to be anticipated and managed.

The paper provides a knowledge‐based perspective on entrepreneurial networks. The 3C‐model, which is grounded in reliable data includes several stakeholders in an entrepreneurial network which is in itself valuable and original.

In France, there seems to be no immediate correlation between the desire to opt for an entrepreneurial career and actually starting or taking over a business. Based on this observation, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the entrepreneurial process and more specifically on its trigger phase; the exploratory research question is: how to model the entrepreneurial process trigger phase?

First, based on a review of the literature, the authors seek to identify the main concepts that can be used to study the entrepreneurial process trigger. Second, the authors try to show the articulation between these various concepts with a view to proposing a typology of the entrepreneurial process trigger. In order to model the trigger phase, the authors rely mostly on the concepts of intention and displacement and works by Shapero and Sokol, by Ajzen, and by Krueger and Carsrud. The authors study the case of French engineers by drawing on previous research, notably the database of French engineers assembled by Fayolle. Concerning the methodological approach, first a quantitative analysis was performed on the sample, which was completed with a qualitative study.

Thanks to the questionnaire, the authors were able to identify eight possible career paths based on the initial measurements made by Fayolle in 1996; then various trigger paths were tested. Finally, a model of the trigger phase is proposed based on the qualitative study. Two determining dimensions emerge through analysis of the results: the trigger paths evolve differently over time. Furthermore, the intensity and impact of displacements are perceived differently by individuals. This leads the authors to propose a mapping of the four identified trigger processes.

At the theoretical level, this research contributes to mapping out the various trigger processes of new venture creation. By incorporating the time dimension, it was possible to outline the sequence of events. The authors shed some light on the entrepreneurial process by showing the main factors that can lead an individual to go from intention to action. In light of the results, the authors feel it necessary to reject any determinist interpretation of the French engineers' career paths. The interactions between personal and contextual variables add to the complexity of the phenomenon, as contextual and environmental factors play a significant role in the trigger of the entrepreneurial process. The present work provides insights into the decisive factors in the career orientation of French engineers, and it can be replicated with samples from various nationalities.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how collaborative entrepreneurial learning (EL) processes between entrepreneurs and university students can enhance the entrepreneurial practices in the context of knowledge-intensive enterprises. These learning processes represent a valuable source for entrepreneurship development in incumbent enterprises in the forms of innovative products, services, processes or organizational renewal.

An extreme case study is the project “Mimprendo” (www.mimprendo.it), an initiative promoted by the Italian Conference of the University Colleges and the Italian Association of Young Entrepreneurs in collaboration with Italian universities. This is analyzed in the period 2009-2015, during which seven editions were developed.

A framework is presented based on collaborative EL processes to perform relevant entrepreneurial projects in knowledge-intensive enterprises. The framework provides a coherent and systematic approach to generate, select and implement entrepreneurial practices in incumbent companies starting from a project competition involving creative students and innovative entrepreneurs. EL processes in the community composed of entrepreneurs, experts and university students are grouped into the entrepreneurial phases of inspiration, exploration, exploitation, acceleration and growth, and include the learning processes of “intuition and sensing,” “contamination,” “experiential and contextual learning,” “experimenting and acting” and finally “thinking and reflecting.”

Implications for research can be identified according to many perspectives to deepen the centrality of the learning process in the research on knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship.

The framework results to be a promising approach to diffuse an entrepreneurial culture both in incumbent enterprises and in university students through a synergic collaboration among industry, university and institution. Practical implications could be derived for enterprise, students and educators involved in the design of innovative learning initiatives to sustain the development of an entrepreneurial mind-set.

The framework contributes to extending an emerging research area exploring entrepreneurship as a never-ending dynamic learning process. The involvement of brilliant university students in activating EL process with entrepreneurs in incumbent enterprises represents a novel aspect in the field of entrepreneurship and innovation.