The individual‐opportunity (IO) nexus has been a highly influential perspective in entrepreneurship, but its market‐focused and variance‐deterministic character pose serious limitations where entrepreneurship is intended as a development policy for disabled people. The extant research in disability entrepreneurship converges in the recognition of structural barriers faced by disabled entrepreneurs, but in most cases, the multilevel challenges only translate to adaptive mechanisms at an individual level. When the IO nexus is adopted as a lens, its variance‐deterministic setup and market‐focused outcome definitions are in favor of entrepreneurs with conventional characteristics, but less helpful for a policy purpose where substantial non‐economic value could be overlooked. Two critical points for consideration in disability entrepreneurship research are the role of context in which the disabled entrepreneurs are embedded, and the influences of different levels of analysis.

In this study, we explore the product/service innovation process in university spin-offs (USOs) – a category of micro/small firms operating at the edge of technological frontiers. Our approach reconciles the traditional linear model with a practice-based lens, which characterises firm learning processes as underpinned by two logics of production and development. The findings agree with the extant literature that the process overall does not always follow stages in a standardised model. The lens further suggests that the interplay between the two logics occurs even within an individual so-called stage of the linear model, which makes for a counter-intuitive observation. This interplay also hinges upon customer collaboration and feedback. Overall, the apparent lack of adherence to formal process in USOs innovation is not mere haphazard response to being small and new. Reconciling the linear model and the lens is a step further in accounting for the latter’s view of iterative learning and knowledge creation, while preserving the former’s relevance as a communication device for multiple stakeholders involving in the process.

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