Walking a tightrope between artistry and entrepreneurship

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to challenge a traditional image of the content of entrepreneurship, which is associated with creativity, identity and discovery recognition. Design/methodology/approach - A narrative approach is used in telling the story about the artist/entrepreneur Mikael Genberg. The story is based on interviews, newspaper material and observations. Taking this story as the point of departure, an alternative image of entrepreneurship is suggested. Findings - First, from a traditional Schumpeterian perspective Genberg could be portrayed as a good example of a hero entrepreneur, an archetype of the creative artist/entrepreneur. Instead Genberg in this paper is described in terms of a creative imitator. Second, the Schumpeterian “hero entrepreneur” is associated with a fixed and strong identity. This picture is challenged and replaced by a demonstration of how double or multiple identities are used in legitimizing work which is argued to be more illustrative to the content of entrepreneurship than finding the true identity of the hero entrepreneur. Third, discovery recognition from a traditional perspective is attributed to the individual, while in this case opportunity creation signifies the process of making discoveries collectively shared. Research limitations/implications - This study is exploratory and based on a single case, while the results cannot be taken as generalizations. Instead an alternative understanding of the content of entrepreneurship is illustrated. Originality/value - The value of this study is the demonstration of an alternative image of the content of entrepreneurship.