The effects of business accelerators on venture performance: evidence from start-up Chile

Do business accelerators affect new venture performance? We investigate this question in the context of Start-Up Chile, an ecosystem accelerator. We focus on two treatment conditions typically found in business accelerators: basic services of funding and coworking space, and additional entrepreneurship schooling. Using a regression discontinuity design, we show that schooling bundled with basic services can significantly increase new venture performance. In contrast, we find no evidence that basic services affect performance on their own. Our results are most relevant for ecosystem accelerators that attract young and early-stage businesses and suggest that entrepreneurial capital matters in new ventures

Entrepreneurship during the Covid-19 Pandemic: A global study of entrepreneurs' challenges, resilience, and well-being

Summary: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs including the self-employed) account for 90% of businesses globally and provide 70% of employment worldwide. These businesses, typically entrepreneur led, are threatened by the Covid-19 pandemic, meaning that millions of jobs are at risk. This report presents insights from a global study conducted during the pandemic in 2020. We surveyed over 5,000 entrepreneurs in 23 countries that represent 3/4 of the world’s economic output. Most entrepreneurs faced significant challenges threatening the survival of their businesses. We also see resilience in how entrepreneurs navigated the crisis through being agile, adaptive, and exploring new opportunities, utilizing government support, giving back to society, and even harbouring growth ambitions beyond the pandemic. Entrepreneurs’ mental well-being dropped by 12% in the pandemic presenting another threat to their businesses. We chart stressors and well-being resources including social support and self-care strategies that entrepreneurs engaged to stay productive. We close the report (1) by reflecting on five trends for the post-Covid economy and formulate actionable policy recommendations of how entrepreneurs and SMEs can be supported in light of these trends (digitalisation; ‘local’ focus, inclusive business models, developing personal and business resilience), and (2) offer five practical steps for entrepreneurs to protect their well-being

Rest, zest and my innovative best: sleep and mood as drivers of entrepreneurs’ innovative behavior

This study investigates the antecedents of an entrepreneur’s day-level innovative behavior. Drawing on 2,420 data points from a 10-day experience sampling study with 121 entrepreneurs, we find that sleep quality is a precursor to an entrepreneur’s subsequent innovative behavior, in accordance with the effort-recovery model. Moreover, sleep quality is positively related to high-activation positive moods (e.g., enthusiastic, inspired) and negatively related to high-activation negative moods (e.g., tension, anxiety). Our multilevel structural equation model indicates that high-activation positive moods mediate the relationship between sleep quality and innovative behavior on a given day. These results are relevant for managing entrepreneurial performance

Act or wait-and-see? Adversity, agility, and entrepreneur wellbeing across countries during the Covid-19 pandemic

How can entrepreneurs protect their wellbeing during a crisis? Does engaging agility (namely, opportunity agility and planning agility) in response to adversity help entrepreneurs safeguard their wellbeing? Activated by adversity, agility may function as a specific resilience mechanism enabling positive adaption to crisis. We studied 3,162 entrepreneurs from 20 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and found that more severe national lockdowns enhanced firm-level adversity for entrepreneurs and diminished their wellbeing. Moreover, entrepreneurs who combined opportunity agility with planning agility experienced higher wellbeing but planning agility alone lowered wellbeing. Entrepreneur agility offers a new agentic perspective to research on entrepreneur wellbeing

A Micro-Foundational Model of Real Options Reasoning: The Roles of Individual Search Propensity and Perceived Uncertainty

First published: 30 June 2020Research Summary: To explain heterogeneity in real options reasoning (ROR) across entrepreneurial ventures, we propose a microfoundational model to explore the relationships between a firm leader's search propensity, perceived uncertainty and the firm‐level ROR‐based behaviors. Using a panel survey of 134 founder‐CEOs of new ventures, we find that founder‐CEOs' search propensity is positively related to ROR‐based behaviors in their ventures. Moreover, we find that founder‐CEOs' perceived effect uncertainty is positively related to the ROR‐based behaviors, but perceived response uncertainty is negatively related to the ROR‐based behaviors, revealing the importance of considering distinct types of uncertainty in entrepreneurs' ROR. Our microfoundational model advances the ROR literature by delineating how individual‐level factors may drive ROR in firms that face uncertainty. Managerial Summary: Flexibility is key to startup success. However, entrepreneurs craft and embed flexibility to different degrees and under different situations. In order to explain this heterogeneity, we study the roles of entrepreneurs' individual characteristics. Particularly, we study search propensity and perceived uncertainty (distinguishing among different types) in relation to flexibility, formally known as real options reasoning (ROR). Analysis of 134 founder‐CEOs of new ventures in Start‐Up Chile showed that founder‐CEOs' search propensity is positively related to ROR in their ventures. Moreover, founder‐CEOs' perceived uncertainty is related to ROR in ways that depend on the type of uncertainty the entrepreneurs perceive; thus, not all types of uncertainties relate positively to ROR. Such findings carry managerial implications to those who want to understand why certain startups are more flexible.Stephen X. Zhang, Renfei Gao, Nicolás Odeh, Michael Leatherbe