Embedded entrepreneurship: on the role of online communities in entrepreneurial activity

In the past, entrepreneurship theory has largely ignored social aspects. Dominant paradigms, such as the ‘soloist’ and even the network approach, center on the proactive role of individual entrepreneurs. We argue that these traditional perspectives on entrepreneurship should be extended to the idea of embedded entrepreneurship: the process of starting up an enterprise while and as a consequence of being part of a relevant social group. In order to support our theory, we offer empirical evidence from a case study that draws on interview, survey and archival data. Qualitative and quantitative analyses show that five widely recognized entrepreneurial processes - opportunity recognition, resource-building, organizing, legitimation, and opportunity exploitation – have a different meaning from an embedded entrepreneurship perspective. Here, the entrepreneur as individual and the community as a social group both contribute to the implementation of the five processes. We conclude by suggesting that community membership influences entrepreneurial activities positive as well as negative, and point out several directions for future research.