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Research Summary Knowledge‐based theories have posited that new technologies are recombinations of prior technologies. To bring about new innovations, inventors usually use past known knowledge as a key ingredient. However, there exists a particular type of new technology that does not have any explicit prior technology predecessors. These pioneering technologies, also referred to as “zero‐reference patents,” not only reflect new knowledge but can also serve as the initial seed from which recombination can subsequently create more knowledge and technologies. We seek to understand the characteristics of the inventors who create these pioneering technologies. We find that having focused, specific expertise is more important than a broad knowledge base in the development of these pioneering technologies, and that prior inventive success can hinder their creation. Managerial Summary We highlight a type of patents which have zero backward references, representing a form of pioneering knowledge. Unlike other types of knowledge, pioneering knowledge comes from inventors who have less successful but more focused experience. Although the zero‐reference patents generally fail to show usefulness on their own, the patents which build upon zero‐reference patents are more likely to become breakthrough patents and to generate a high number of forward citations. Zero‐reference patents are the seeds for future breakthroughs. Given the importance of breakthroughs, we offer an alternative path toward creating such knowledge. Our analysis at the level of inventors also gives guidance on the type of talent who are more likely to generate pioneering knowledge.

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Kevin Anthony Miceli: From Garage Inventor to Garage Entrepreneur (Under the direction of Atul Nerkar) The American garage serves as the backdrop for the image of the independent entrepreneur. However, literature highlights the importance of resources for entrepreneurs that are derived from experience in firms, universities, or markets. This dissertation investigates how theories from those entrepreneurship studies can be applied in the context of independent ("garage") invention that results in garage entrepreneurship. In studying the process used by garage entrepreneurs, it elucidates how the technological, social, and geographical opportunity spaces present in the pre-venture period could affect the decision to form a new venture. Using data of non-affiliated technologies from the USPTO during 1975-2009, I analyze inventors and technologies that are at risk of forming a firm in order to understand which characteristics increase the likelihood of entrepreneurship given prior technological development. In the data, I identify a risk-set of 152,092 inventors who will start 5,684 new firms. I find that the nature of the opportunity spaces through competition and resources is associated with the transition from inventor to entrepreneur and increased experience and network strength can substitute for organizational affiliation. Finally, while all inventors in this study start independently in the metaphorical garage, those who transition to an existing company are more likely to spin back out after experience in smaller firms and twice as likely to start a new firm as those who do not join an existing organization.