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Jewels in the crown: Exploring the motivations and team building processes of employee entrepreneurs

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  • Sonali K. Shah
  • Rajshree Agarwal
  • Raj Echambadi

Abstract

Research Summary This study examines motivations and team building processes of employee entrepreneurs in the disk‐drive industry. Our inductive, grounded theory building approach uncovers that ringleaders—founders who spearhead spinout creation—are driven by a nonpecuniary desire to create in a fertile environment, when they encounter frictions within the parent firm. Cofounders share the desire to create, but ensure departure on good terms to retain the option of returning to paid employment as a safeguard against entrepreneurial risk. We uncover an endogenous team building process in which more successful founding teams engage in “workplace instrumentality”—creating workplaces through deliberate selection of cofounders who have complementary functional knowledge, but are similar in that they possess superior problem‐solving abilities, best‐in‐class talent, and common workplace values. Managerial Summary The paper examines the motivations and founding team building processes of individuals who leave existing firms to create new ventures. In contrast to conventional wisdom that suggests preformed teams working on innovation projects leave together, we find founding teams are created when a “ringleader” chooses to venture out and subsequently seeks out cofounders. Ringleaders and cofounders alike are motivated by a desire to create given fertile opportunities and care deeply about equity, but ringleaders additionally experience at least one organizational push factor. Almost all founding teams are created to ensure the presence of complementary, functional knowledge. However, more successful spinouts also select cofounders who are hands on problem‐solvers, best‐in‐class talent, and who share common workplace values.

Suggested Citation

  • Sonali K. Shah & Rajshree Agarwal & Raj Echambadi, 2019. "Jewels in the crown: Exploring the motivations and team building processes of employee entrepreneurs," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(9), pages 1417-1452, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:stratm:v:40:y:2019:i:9:p:1417-1452
    DOI: 10.1002/smj.3027
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    Cited by:

    1. Kristina McElheran & J. Frank Li & Erik Brynjolfsson & Zachary Kroff & Emin Dinlersoz & Lucia Foster & Nikolas Zolas, 2024. "AI adoption in America: Who, what, and where," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 375-415, March.
    2. Coad, Alex & Kaiser, Ulrich & Kuhn, Johan, 2021. "Spin doctors vs the spawn of capitalism: Who founds university and corporate startups?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(10).
    3. Raffaele Conti & Olenka Kacperczyk & Giovanni Valentini, 2022. "Institutional protection of minority employees and entrepreneurship: Evidence from the LGBT Employment Non‐Discrimination Acts," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(4), pages 758-791, April.
    4. Bahoo-Torodi, Aliasghar & Torrisi, Salvatore, 2022. "When do spinouts benefit from market overlap with parent firms?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(6).
    5. Deepak Hegde & Justin Tumlinson, 2021. "Information frictions and entrepreneurship," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 491-528, March.
    6. Healey, Mark P. & Bleda, Mercedes & Querbes, Adrien, 2021. "Opportunity evaluation in teams: A social cognitive model," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(4).
    7. Leonardo Boncinelli & Alessio Muscillo & Paolo Pin, 2022. "Efficiency and Stability in a Process of Teams Formation," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 12(4), pages 1101-1129, December.
    8. Edward Felten & Manav Raj & Robert Seamans, 2021. "Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(12), pages 2195-2217, December.
    9. Lee, Hyeonsuh, 2023. "Unraveling the effect of pre-entry knowledge of founders on experimentation in nascent industries: A configurational approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    10. Zellmer-Bruhn, Mary E. & Forbes, Daniel P. & Sapienza, Harry J. & Borchert, Patricia S., 2021. "Lab, Gig or Enterprise? How scientist-inventors form nascent startup teams," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(1).
    11. Nathan R. Furr, 2019. "Product Adaptation During New Industry Emergence: The Role of Start-Up Team Preentry Experience," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(5), pages 1076-1096, September.
    12. Stijn Kelchtermans & Francesca Melillo, 2023. "Taking a Full Career Perspective on the Formation of Co-Founding Teams," GREDEG Working Papers 2023-22, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    13. Fontana, Roberto & Zirulia, Lorenzo, 2023. "How far from the tree does the (good) apple fall? Spinout creation and the survival of high-tech firms," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 26-49.
    14. Teirlinck, Peter & Bruylant, Anneleen, 2024. "Extended cyclic innovation model as a tool for failure identification in innovation management. Case study of 25 years of CMOS image sensor technology in Belgium," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).

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