Talking Past Each Other: Construal Level, Utilitarian Motives, and Entrepreneurial Team Formation

Steven M. Gray (), Travis Howell () and Esther Sackett ()
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Steven M. Gray: McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712
Travis Howell: W.P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287
Esther Sackett: Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California 95053

Organization Science, 2024, vol. 35, issue 5, 1745-1769

Abstract: Entrepreneurs often struggle to add cofounders who are both interpersonally compatible and who possess complementary resources (i.e., hybrid ties). In this paper, we suggest that there are cognitive and motivational differences between lead entrepreneurs and potential cofounders that complicate the formation of hybrid ties. We propose that lead entrepreneurs prioritize resources, whereas potential cofounders prioritize interpersonal compatibility, because of differences in construal level and utilitarian motives during the team formation process. Although these differences can complicate the formation of hybrid ties, we posit that lead entrepreneurs can overcome these differences by communicating in ways that highlight their interpersonal compatibility with potential cofounders. We find support for our theory across three studies with data from (1) the Y Combinator Co-Founder Matching online platform, (2) an online experiment with entrepreneurs, and (3) a networking event at an incubator. Our findings add novel contributions to the entrepreneurial team formation, entrepreneurial networking, and social networks literatures.

Keywords: team formation; entrepreneurship; social networks; group processes; founding teams (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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