Portfolio entrepreneurship: Habitual and novice founders, new entry, and mode of organizing

Johan Wiklund, Dean A. Shepherd

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

138 Scopus citations

Abstract

With the purpose of advancing our understanding of portfolio entrepreneurship, we separate the act of entrepreneurship (new entry) from its mode or organizing (internal vs. independent organization). Analyzing a cohort of 2,253 novice and habitual business founders, we find that portfolio entrepreneurship is a common phenomenon and that the majority of portfolio entrepreneurs use the internal mode of organizing. Whether or not business founders subsequently pursue portfolio entrepreneurship is explained by their human capital (education and start-up experience) and social capital (business networks and links with government support agencies). Further, novice entrepreneurs are more likely to organize portfolio entrepreneurship within their existing firms while habitual entrepreneurs more often organize subsequent acts of portfolio entrepreneurship by creating another new independent organization. Implications for entrepreneurship research are discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)701-725
Number of pages25
JournalEntrepreneurship: Theory and Practice
Volume32
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2008

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Business and International Management
  • Economics and Econometrics

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