Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Nascent Industries

Abstract

This dissertation explores the activities entrepreneurs undertake when launching ventures and innovating in new or nascent industries. Actors in nascent industries can play a vital role in shaping the future. Yet the features of a nascent context can also lead to failures. I describe three empirical studies that involved significant time in the field studying the development of ventures in two contemporary nascent industries: the smart city industry and the air taxi industry. In each study, I draw on several theoretical lenses, integrating perspectives from psychology, behavioral strategy, and institutional entrepreneurship to build new, grounded theory on the processes that underlie entrepreneurship and innovation in nascent industries. The key insight of this dissertation is that, because of the extreme ambiguity that characterizes the context, entrepreneurship in nascent industries represents a unique - and uniquely challenging - balancing act. I propose that, in nascent industries, the way that entrepreneurs think, feel, and interact in the face of profound ambiguity can shape the success or failure of their ventures. This dissertation aspires to make contributions to two literatures. By focusing on internal firm processes that affect success, I contribute to a new, and rapidly evolving, research conversation on entrepreneurship in nascent industries. By uncovering the importance of previously-unidentified cognitive and emotional patterns and mechanisms in driving firm performance, I contribute to the growing stream of research in behavioral strategy.