Global Academics Discuss Early Entrepreneurial Research

When the first California Entrepreneurship Educators Conference was staged by San Diego State University’s Lavin Entrepreneurship Center within the Fowler College of Business in 2015.  The objective of the event was to “bring together world-class entrepreneurship educators, researchers, and center directors to share knowledge and perspectives to build exceptional entrepreneurship programs.” 

Lois Shelton, management professor at California
State University at Northridge, moderated the event

Six years later, this vision remained intact as the 2021 California Entrepreneurship Educators Conference (April 14 – 16) offered the opportunity for academics to share ideas and information about their research. In the online session titled “Early Stage Entrepreneurship: How Early is Early?” five university-based researchers discussed their most recent research surrounding early-stage entrepreneurship with each other and members of the audience. Lois Shelton, management professor at California State University, Northridge, served as the moderator. 

Audra Quinn, Ph.D. student at the Ivey Business School in London, Ontario, Canada, kicked off the discussion when she shared her findings in what new entrepreneurs look for in a co-founder. “Co-founder selection is one of the most important decisions you can make in the life of your start-up,” she said. “Co-founder blow-ups is a common reason cited for the failure of a start-up.”

Six of the most important attributes that Quinn cited for a successful co-founder relationship are:
1. Skills fit
2. Personal fit
3. Work fit
4. Venture commitment
5. Resources
6. Familiarity

Her findings indicated that while there was no single combination of those factors that ensured successful partnerships, entrepreneurs she interviewed cited familiarity as ranking high, while resources (for example, bringing money into the partnership) ranked low. 

Next to present her research was Noriko Taji, a professor of business administration at Hosei University in Tokyo, Japan, who centered her research on the Start-Up Weekend program and how the “flow experience” (meaning a balanced and focused approach to performing tasks) impacts efficacy, attitude and intension. 

Start-Up Weekend is an annual event held in different locations throughout Japan to provide students interested in starting their own business with the opportunity to work with other like-minded students in teams as they form product pitches to present to judges.

Taji found that the flow experience is contingent upon:
1. Confidence in one’s skills
2. Intensity of the experience
3. Degree of challenge difficulty

During her research, she found that students participating in the Start-Up Weekend came away with higher confidence and intensity which improved the flow experience for them as they embarked on the pitch process. 

SDSU management professors (from left) Mujtaba Ahsan, Alex DeNoble, Parisa Haim-Faridian and Congcong Zheng studied the impact of mentors on entrepreneurship students. 

The third research study was presented by SDSU Professors Congcong Zheng, Mujtaba Ahsan, Parisa Haim Faridian and Alex DeNoble.  The research team is currently engaged in evaluating the impact of mentors on budding entrepreneurs who may start their entrepreneurial journey prior to identifying their business idea.

The professors are in the process of studying 43 sets of mentors and mentees. Three major findings that are already emerging from their research include:
1. Mentees with a strong entrepreneurial focus tend to engage more intensively with their  mentors.
2. When mentees lack entrepreneurial focus, effective mentors  adapt their interactions to assist with personal development.
3. Mentees frequently perceived different opportunities beyond entrepreneurship through the mentoring relationship. 

At the end of the presentations, the researchers took questions from Shelton and the audience about their research and how their findings shed light on early entrepreneurial processes.