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The COVID-19 Virtual Idea Blitz: Marshaling social entrepreneurship to rapidly respond to urgent grand challenges

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  • Bacq, Sophie
  • Geoghegan, Will
  • Josefy, Matthew
  • Stevenson, Regan
  • Williams, Trenton A.

Abstract

In response to societal grand challenges, professors have unique opportunities to effect change, repurposing their expertise to deploy relevant, timely, practical, and research-backed knowledge for the betterment of communities. Drawing on scholarship on postcrisis organizing, entrepreneurial hustle, and social entrepreneurship, we provide a firsthand, real-time case description of a three-day “virtual idea blitz” organized in response to the COVID-19 crisis. The event was organized and executed in less than a week and ultimately involved 200 individuals, including entrepreneurs, coders, medical doctors, venture capitalists, industry professionals, students, and professors from around the world. By the end of the weekend, 21 ideas with corresponding pitches were developed in five thematic areas: health needs, education, small businesses, community, and purchasing. We describe how the community was rapidly rallied, and we discuss the key learning outcomes of this spontaneous entrepreneurial endeavor. We provide evidence from participants and mentors that showcases the value of the time-compressed virtual idea blitz in accelerating social entrepreneurial action. We offer practical guidance to academic, community, and professional institutions that would like to replicate or build upon our approach to stimulate the formation of community and to coordinate efforts to thwart the ongoing threat of COVID-19, as well as other societal challenges that might emerge in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Bacq, Sophie & Geoghegan, Will & Josefy, Matthew & Stevenson, Regan & Williams, Trenton A., 2020. "The COVID-19 Virtual Idea Blitz: Marshaling social entrepreneurship to rapidly respond to urgent grand challenges," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 63(6), pages 705-723.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:63:y:2020:i:6:p:705-723
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2020.05.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Williams, Trenton A. & Shepherd, Dean A., 2016. "Victim entrepreneurs doing well by doing good: Venture creation and well-being in the aftermath of a resource shock," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 365-387.
    2. Greg Fisher & Regan Stevenson & Emily Neubert & Devin Burnell & Donald F. Kuratko, 2020. "Entrepreneurial Hustle: Navigating Uncertainty and Enrolling Venture Stakeholders through Urgent and Unorthodox Action," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(5), pages 1002-1036, July.
    3. Trenton A. Williams & Dean A. Shepherd, 2018. "To the Rescue!? Brokering a Rapid, Scaled and Customized Compassionate Response to Suffering after Disaster," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(6), pages 910-942, September.
    4. S. Bacq & F. Janssen, 2011. "The multiple faces of social entrepreneurship: A review of definitional issues based on geographical and thematic criteria," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(5-6), pages 373-403, June.
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