Entrepreneurial Network Evolution: Explicating the Structural Localism and Agentic Network Change Distinction

Hallen, Benjamin L.; Davis, Jason P.; Murray, Alex

doi:10.5465/annals.2018.0063

Cited by 37 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 217 publications

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“…The student entrepreneurs all developed their own particular social networks to gain access to information and resources. The context might, however, have been decisive for where the social networks developed and how they were made use of, which is in line with previous findings on network evolution (Hallen et al, 2020). The development of social networks is an inherently dynamic process (Fayolle et al, 2016;Soetanto et al, 2018); this can clearly be observed among the student entrepreneurs, who had to construct their social networks more or less from scratch because of their limited work experience and industry insights.…”

Section: Paths Through the Entrepreneurial Ecosystemssupporting

confidence: 82%

“…Recent work on social networks in entrepreneurship has drawn attention to the dynamic nature of networks (Fayolle et al, 2016;Hallen et al, 2020;Soetanto et al, 2018). According to Slotte- Kock and Coviello (2010), networks are sometimes treated as static and the literature has only recently begun exploring how network relationships are developed and transformed.…”

Section: Student Entrepreneurshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Student venture creation: developing social networks within entrepreneurial ecosystems in the transition from student to entrepreneur

Longva¹

2021

IJEBR

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PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to provide insight into how students navigate entrepreneurial ecosystems and make use of social networks as they create their own ventures. Such ecosystems for students are an understudied phenomenon and there is a need for more profound insights into the issue in order to build better support systems for student entrepreneurs. The study aims to increase understanding on the elements that are important in students' entrepreneurial ecosystems and how these impact on students' venture creation processes, with emphasize on the role social networks play. Student entrepreneurs account for a substantial number of the startups that come into being at universities. Understanding more about how the surroundings affects this process is important for facilitating student entrepreneurship in higher education.Design/methodology/approachThe study is qualitative and makes use of in-depth interviews with student entrepreneurs, educators and support actors in the ecosystems. Multiple actors were interviewed in order to capture different perspectives on the matter, with a total of 15 interviews conducted.FindingsTwo main findings arose from the study. First, it provides insight into elements that are perceived as important for student venture creation by the student entrepreneurs themselves, by educators and by support actors in the ecosystems. Second, it describes how the elements make up the entrepreneurial ecosystems surrounding the students, which serve as platforms from which students can develop their social networks. Therefore, the study highlights how such ecosystems can serve as sources from which students can gain access to ideas, resources and identity processes.Research limitations/implicationsA limitation of the study is that the interviews took place in one country. Consequently, further investigation is necessary to establish whether the findings are valid in other contexts. The research has implications for higher educational institutions, policymakers and researchers concerned with student entrepreneurship and student venture creation.Originality/valueThe study contributes empirical findings on a topic that is currently not well understood and on which there are few empirical studies. While student ventures represent a substantial proportion of university spin-offs, the topic has received little attention compared to research on academic entrepreneurship. The study represents a step towards enhancing understanding of students' entrepreneurial ecosystems and how students gain access to resources through social network ties within these systems.

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Section: Paths Through the Entrepreneurial Ecosystemssupporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Student Entrepreneurshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Student venture creation: developing social networks within entrepreneurial ecosystems in the transition from student to entrepreneur

Longva¹

2021

IJEBR

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“…Our study also joins the debate on the relative primacy of social structure versus actor agency in driving economic outcomes (Hallen, Davis, & Murray, 2020; Shipilov, Labianca, Kalnysh, & Kalnysh, 2014; Vissa, 2012). Our results suggest that social structural heterogeneity (i.e., social capital endowment) matters—entrepreneurs with greater influential access secure more successful referrals irrespective of activation tactic.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 55%

A foot in the door: Field experiments on entrepreneurs' network activation strategies for investor referrals

Nai

Lin

Kotha

et al. 2021

Strategic Management Journal

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Research summary We investigate entrepreneurial network activation—the processes by which entrepreneurs select specific contacts from their existing personal network and persuade the selected contacts to provide referrals to access targeted early‐stage investors (venture capitalists or angel‐investors). We differentiate between selection of entrepreneur‐centric contacts versus investor‐centric contacts. We also distinguish between persuasion tactics that induce contacts' cooperation through promises of reciprocity versus offers of monetary incentives. We conducted two field‐experiments in India and one in Singapore. Our primary field‐experiment involved 42 Singapore‐based entrepreneurs seeking referrals from 684 network contacts to reach a panel of four investors. Our evidence suggests that selecting investor‐centric contacts leads to greater referral success; in addition, persuasion by promising reciprocity also leads to greater referral success. Managerial summary A vital first‐step for resource‐starved entrepreneurs seeking funding for their scalable business‐idea is to obtain referrals to early‐stage investors, because such investors pay more attention to referrals from trusted contacts. Using field‐experiments, we examine how entrepreneurs' choices in selecting network contacts and persuading them to provide referrals drive their access to investors. Results suggest that compared with the habitual pattern of requesting referrals from contacts proximate to themselves, entrepreneurs are about six times more likely to secure successful referrals when they select investor‐centric contacts for referral requests. Furthermore, actively persuading contacts by promising future reciprocity results in about three times higher likelihood of securing successful referrals. Our findings show how thoughtful activation of existing contacts can enable even modestly connected entrepreneurs to gain investor access.

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“…(Shinkle, & Suchard, 2019;Minniti, 2008) Join the local entrepreneurial network. (Hallen, et al, 2020) Join business incubators at an early stage (Siddiqui et al, 2018). Join business accelerator programs at a later stage.…”

Section: Role Of Country Governments In Building Entrepreneurial Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crossing the Valley of Death: lessons for young entrepreneurs

Al-Shaikh¹,

Siddiqui²

2021

JESI

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Valley of Death (VoD) is a metaphor often used to describe the situation in which many new startups fail to survive. This paper aims to share the experiences of developing guidelines for young entrepreneurs to successfully cross the Valley of death. The ideal target audience for this paper includes young entrepreneurs eager to launch their startups and preferably attending business incubation or acceleration programs. This research hypothesized to make a conceptual model crossing the Valley of death using the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The entrepreneurship ecosystem consists of six higher-order domains, including enabling government policies and leadership, financial capital, culture, support services, human capital, and markets. From earlier studies, entrepreneurial actions to cross the Valley of death were extracted. Entrepreneurship experts, including business incubation center managers, mentors, entrepreneurship faculty from business schools, validated these entrepreneurial actions. Analyses show four domains replicated in the study, enabling government policies and leadership, financial capital, support services, and markets. Furthermore, culture was partially replicated while the experts did not validate human capital. Finally, it presents entrepreneurial actions used to cross the Valley of death by new startups. These entrepreneurial actions are mapped on the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Findings include an emphasis on the understanding of ten issues including, entrepreneurial ecosystem, government rules, procedures, and incentives (like tax benefits, grants) for similar startups, intellectual property rights for similar projects, the role of leadership in startup performance, financial capital for the startup, risks and decision-making choices, regional entrepreneurial culture, support services for similar startups, markets, customers & competitors, the commercial value of the research project/product. Findings also show how to perform these actions and the appropriate timings of these entrepreneurial actions.

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Entrepreneurial Network Evolution: Explicating the Structural Localism and Agentic Network Change Distinction

Cited by 37 publications

References 217 publications

Student venture creation: developing social networks within entrepreneurial ecosystems in the transition from student to entrepreneur

Student venture creation: developing social networks within entrepreneurial ecosystems in the transition from student to entrepreneur

A foot in the door: Field experiments on entrepreneurs' network activation strategies for investor referrals

Crossing the Valley of Death: lessons for young entrepreneurs

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