Historiography and the excavation of nascent business venturing

Wim Van Lent (), Richard A. Hunt and Daniel A. Lerner
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Wim Van Lent: Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
Richard A. Hunt: Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
Daniel A. Lerner: IE Business School, IE University

Small Business Economics, 2023, vol. 61, issue 1, No 12, 285-303

Abstract: Abstract Few facets of business venturing are more challenging to capture than nascent-stage venture creation. The principal reason for this is the inherent difficulty scholars face when addressing the dynamic interplay between individuals and opportunities. Post hoc perspectives of venture creation typically involve high “narrativity,” characterized by structured, linear, teleological sense-making that tends to omit unreasoned and unintended facets of entrepreneurship. While narrativity is indispensable to new venture storytelling, it is also the quintessence of post hoc reality restructuring, which often excludes and invariably mutates key aspects of entrepreneurial action. To mitigate the data narrativity problem, we formulate a historiographical procedure designed to (a) reveal the internal and external stimuli that govern venture creation and (b) elicit deeper understanding of the unreasoned logics that also guide entrepreneurial action. For practical benefit, we assess this procedure through the lens of four archetypal research contexts, each featuring start-ups as “sites” of historiographical analysis: “wastelands,” “ruins,” “construction sites,” and “goldmines.” Our methodological roadmap enables a richer depiction of nascent-stage venturing.

Keywords: Nascent-stage business venturing; Narrativity; Epistemology; Historiography; Historical realism; Interpretive history (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B25 B41 L26 N01 O30 O31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1007/s11187-022-00691-w

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