Entrepreneurial Impact: The Role of MIT

Presents an analysis of firms founded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) alumni -- revenues, employees, spending on marketing and research and development, and type of firm -- by state to quantify MIT's entrepreneurial impact

Simplified Method For Teaching Cash Flow Statement Construction To Entrepreneurship And Non-Accounting Majors

It is a common mantra of entrepreneurs that cash is king, and educators in entrepreneurship have stressed the need to make the understanding of cash flows a central theme early in a student’s education (Leauby and Wentzel, 2012; Pearl, 1986; Wouters, 2008). However, the ability to teach entrepreneurship students how to develop a statement of cash flows is viewed by many as a difficult task for educators. Many students struggle to understand the indirect method of modeling cash flows (Vent and Cocco, 1996) because the method of constructing the cash flow statement is not intuitive (Hodder, Hopkins, and Wood, 2008). Drawing upon cognitive load theory, I discuss the need to have a significantly simpler method to introduce the cash flow statement to entrepreneurship and other non-accounting majors in a format that enables students to more easily understand the impact of cash and non-cash transactions. I then present a method by which students with limited accounting acumen construct a simple cash flow statement using basic spreadsheet skills

A Confluence of Tech and Talent: Rural Online Entrepreneurship and Return Migration

The vast majority of those living in poverty reside in rural areas. Prior research indicates that the Internet can elevate the rural economy by connecting rural entrepreneurs to the wider market. However, we have yet to witness much successful online entrepreneurship in rural areas. In this study, we show that return migration is a crucial factor for the performance of e-commerce in rural areas. Using data from a leading ecommerce platform, we set up a natural experiment involving a provincial-level policy change that reduced the barriers for talented rural migrants to return and work in their home villages. In a difference-in-differences design, we find that after the policy change, rural e-commerce businesses in the province that implemented the policy change enjoyed a 22 percent performance gain relative to other rural businesses. This study suggests that policymakers and digital platforms need to create a confluence of talent and technology to spur successful entrepreneurship in rural areas

How Making it Easier to Succeed Reduces Success: IPO Reform and New Firm Performance

We examine how institutional changes that lower the barriers to successful exit influence the rate of IPO’s, the initial capitalization, and the performance of subsequent ventures. Such IPO market reforms are widespread, but their effectiveness is unclear. To do so, we take advantage of a quasi-natural experiment in which the IPO listing requirements in Japan were dramatically reduced. Using a unique database of over 19,000 new firms incorporated after 1982, we find that IPO market reform is a powerful institutional lever that increases the rate of IPOs. But it is also a narrow instrument that influences only few industries and triggers poor average performance in those industries. Overall, we find that IPO market reform is a complex institutional change. We conclude with contributions at the nexus institutional theory and entrepreneurship that indicate where and for whom institutional change will be effective

Are You Experienced or Are You Talented?: When Does Innate Talent versus Experience Explain Entrepreneurial Performance?

We explore whether entrepreneurial performance is due to innate talent or the accumulation of entrepreneurial experience. Using a novel data set with multiple observations of founding attempts per individual, we generate a unique measure of entrepreneurial talent. In contrast to prior findings, the relative importance of experience versus talent changes with the context. When the current market or technology is familiar, experience dominates. However, when the venture context is unfamiliar, talent is more important. Individuals with experience and talent handle both familiar and unfamiliar aspects and may extract more from a given level of experience. The findings advance our understanding of how the drivers of venture performance shift with the broader technological and industry environment and places limits on when experience aids performance.MIT Entrepreneurship CenterStanford University. Stanford Technology Ventures ProgramEwing Marion Kauffman Foundatio

Mavenness And Salespeople Success: An Empirical Investigation

The sales literature has examined many characteristics of highly successful salespeople but as yet has not evaluated the concept of mavenness in the context of sales. Mavens are persons who have a passionate desire to freely share their expertise and knowledge for the benefit of others. This paper develops a three-factor measure of mavenness that measures levels of expertise, passion and the desire to share knowledge, and tests if higher levels of mavenness are associated with superior salesperson performance. The scale was administered to a sample of 122 salespersons in a large insurance company. Data on salesperson performance as well as other control variables were collected from archival records. Confirmatory factor analysis provided satisfactory support for the scale. Mavenness and the control variables were regressed on salesperson performance. All three factors of mavenness were highly significant. Sales managers can improve the selection and training of their sales force by using the scale to find candidates with high levels of mavenness. Although the concept of mavenness is not new, no attempt to measure this trait has been made previously. Furthermore, this trait has not before been tested to see if high levels of mavenness are associated with superior salesperson performance

Institutions and Maker Entrepreneurship

The nascent research on the maker movement highlights the implicit assumptions embedded in the literature on entrepreneurship and innovation based on a model of closed traditional product development. Instead, the maker culture emphasizes inclusiveness, openness, sharing, and collaboration. To date, we know little about how institutional-level factors (such as intellectual property rights protection, maker culture and access to makerspaces) impact the probability of a maker hobbyist becoming an entrepreneur. We leverage the institutional perspective to examine the differing regulatory, normative and cultural elements with a cross-national study. Thus, via a leading maker community, Hackster IO, we collected data from surveying 3,139 global makers from 99 countries during 2016, providing the first quantitative evidence about the maker movement's impact on firm creation. Our results suggest that having access to makerspaces positively correlates with the likelihood of being a maker entrepreneur. Intellectual property rights protection demonstrated an inverted-U shape relationship with being an entrepreneur. This paper provides the first large quantitative evidence on the wide existence of maker entrepreneurship across the world and how intuitional factors impact the creation of maker-founded firms in different societies

Examining and Reconciling Identity Issues Among Artist-Entrepreneurs (Chapter)

In business schools, research and pedagogy in entrepreneurship focus on new venture creation and management. Developing individuals to think like an entrepreneur and adopt an ‘entrepreneurial identity’ enables them to more effectively build and grow businesses and enjoy financial success. However, the assumption that all entrepreneurs desire financial success may not hold across non-business entrepreneurs. For example, for artists, sacrificing for arts’ sake - or enjoying artistic success at the hands of financial success - is a constant struggle. This ‘artist identity’ stands in stark contrast to the ‘entrepreneurial identity’. Artists create to satisfy an artistic need, rather than a market opportunity. Given the continuing decay of artistic endeavours due to the lack of financial support, we ask: can these identities be reconciled so that the artist can be a successful entrepreneur? To explore this question, we turn to identity theory for insight into the differences in identities of entrepreneurs and artists. Building on findings from identity theory and entrepreneurship pedagogy research, we develop a framework for an identity reconciliation process that artist-entrepreneurs experience. For researchers, this framework suggests artist-entrepreneurs are a unique form of entrepreneur, and that identity plays a central role in the artist’s creative and financial success. For pedagogues, this framework unveils that designing curricula around the theoretical roots and approaches of identity research can help these individuals grapple with identity-issues to more successfully breed entrepreneurship among artists

Investigating the role of ICT intervention in grassroots innovation using structural equation modelling approach

Research on information communication technologies (ICT) for entrepreneurship development is burgeoning, yet our understanding of the use of ICT in support of grassroots innovation remains unclear. This paper examines the moderating role of the use of ICT on the relationship between grassroots innovation (GRI) and entrepreneurial success (ES). The study involved 400 grassroots entrepreneurs selected from three states in India, and the moderating effect of the use of ICT was analysed using moderated structural equation modelling. The results revealed that the use of ICT partially moderates the relationship between the new learning practices and economic benefits. It also partially moderates the relationship between local solution and economic benefits, but it fully moderates the relationship between networking capabilities and economic benefits, where the relationship is stronger when the use of ICT is high. Furthermore, the study found that the use of ICT does not moderate the relationship between new learning practice and non-economic benefits, relationship between local solution and non-economic benefits and relationship between networking capabilities and non-economic benefits