Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship最新文献

{"title":"Development and validation of an individual entrepreneurial potential new measurement scale","authors":"Akilimali Ndatabaye Ephrem, M. Murimbika","doi":"10.1108/jrme-07-2022-0094","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jrme-07-2022-0094","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000As good as existing measurements of entrepreneurial potential (EP) may appear in the literature, they are fragmented, suffer from the lack of theory integration and clarity, are inadequately specified and assessed and the dimensions are unordered by importance. These limitations of EP metrics have hindered entrepreneurial practice and theory advancement. There is a risk of atomistic evolution of the topic among “siloed” scholars and room for repetitions without real progress. The purpose of this paper was to take stock of existing measurements from which the authors developed a new instrument that is brief and inclusive.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The authors followed several steps to develop and validate the new instrument, including construct domain name specification, literature review, structured interviews with entrepreneurs, face validation by experts, semantic validation and statistical validation after two waves of data collected on employee and entrepreneur samples.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000A clear operational definition of EP is proposed and serves as a starting point towards a unified EP theory. The new EP instrument is made up of 34 items classified into seven dimensions, which in order of importance are proactive innovativeness, management skill, calculated risk-taking, social skill, financial literacy, entrepreneurial competencies prone to cognitive and heuristic biases and bricolage. The authors provide evidence for reliability and validity of the new instrument.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000Although a model is not the model, the authors discuss several ways in which the new measurement model can be used by different stakeholders to promote entrepreneurship.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000The authors discuss the domain representativeness of the new scale and argue that the literature can meaningfully benefit from a non-fuzzy approach to what makes the EP of an individual. By developing a new EP instrument, the authors set an important pre-condition for advancing entrepreneurial theory and practice.\u0000","PeriodicalId":45322,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41860895","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Role of entrepreneurial resilience in SMEs to promote marketing and entrepreneurship amid Covid19 challenges","authors":"Mallika Devi Pathak, Brajaballav Kar, Rashmiranjan Panigrahi, A. Shrivastava","doi":"10.1108/jrme-04-2022-0050","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jrme-04-2022-0050","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000Resilient firms are more likely to survive crisis. This paper aims to investigate the resilient behavior displayed by small and medium enterprise (SME) owners in the pandemic context and the sequence of antecedents leading to resilient behavior.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Seven SME owners, from different business sectors, were interviewed twice in 8 months, to assess their actions and underlying entrepreneurial resilience. A model was developed depicting the sequence of activities leading to entrepreneurial resiliency behavior. The study was conducted in the capital city of Odisha, an eastern Indian state.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The results indicate that entrepreneurial resiliency is manifested in various forms where the SME owners engage in bricolage. Resiliency has an inevitable time dimension, where SME owners estimate the period for which adversity is likely to persist. They focus on alternative action to demonstrate resiliency. It was also learnt that revenue management during a crisis requires entrepreneurial marketing with innovativeness, opportunity seeking and value creation to improve resiliency.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000This research is important for policymakers who can strengthen resiliency through the support and provision of adequate information to SME owners. Educators can use the model for discussion and pedagogy. Finally, SME owners can evaluate their response behaviors to a crisis and draw insights.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000The approach of the study was longitudinal and qualitative. This study contributes to the literature gap on resiliency in the context of emerging markets and SMEs.\u0000","PeriodicalId":45322,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42438800","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Firm selection for government venture capital funding to youth tech-based startups","authors":"Lalit Sharma","doi":"10.1108/jrme-06-2020-0083","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jrme-06-2020-0083","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of the study is to review and understand firm selection mechanism involved in government venture capital (GVC) funding and identify key factors influencing selection of tech-based firms for GVC funding.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000This paper is based on real-time methodology. The data was generated from interviews of 60 young applicants, who applied for startup funding, and analyzed using statistical techniques to draw the results.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000This review identifies financial viability, market viability and technological innovation to have the strongest predictive ability in firm selection process of the GVC funding program for tech-based youth-owned startups in the first round of interview. This review also highlighted that social impact is not a statistically significant variable in firm selection process in GVC funding.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This study tests the validity of the theory of GVC based on quantitative analysis of field data and identifies key factors with strong predictive abilities for GVC funding, more particularly for the youth-owned tech-based startups. This study brings to light the mechanism adopted for GVC funding and addresses gaps in the literature relevant to firm selection mechanism in GVC programs. This study would help GVC Fund Managers to review their own GVC programs in terms of selection mechanism and help them in appropriate designing of such programs.\u0000","PeriodicalId":45322,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44251563","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Entrepreneurial orientation and SMEs performance in an emerging economy: the mediating role of absorptive capacity","authors":"","doi":"10.1108/jrme-07-2022-0090","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jrme-07-2022-0090","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and firm performance (FP) through the mediating role of absorptive capacity (AC) in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) as an emerging economy.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000This paper used a quantitative research design. Data was collected using a self-administered online questionnaire. The study was based on 366 samples from Saudi Arabian workers at SMEs. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS/AMOS 26.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The paper provides empirical insights. It suggests the positively mediating role of AC in the relationship between EO and FP. The authors found a full positive mediating role of AC in the relationship between EO and FP in SMEs in the KSA.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000The study empirically confirms the role of EO through AC in enhancing a firm’s performance. Additionally, the research findings support SME owners and managers in increasing their firms’ performance by implementing AC dimensions (assimilation and acquisition) with existing entrepreneurial characteristics to boost and increase business and performance. Regardless of the implications, this paper has some limitations. For instance, this study was conducted only on SMEs in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, future researchers are encouraged to extend the study to other organization sizes or to extend the study to other industries.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating the importance of AC’s mediating role in EO’s impact on FP, extending the previous studies in the area. Moreover, this research investigates the study themes in a relatively new context, specifically SMEs in the KSA.\u0000","PeriodicalId":45322,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49092495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Socio-cultural elements of the Marwari business community in India","authors":"Nihar Amoncar, P. Igwe, N. Madichie","doi":"10.1108/jrme-08-2021-0106","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jrme-08-2021-0106","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this study is to explore the elements of the Marwari business community’s sociocultural context, which influence entrepreneurial behaviour. The entrepreneurial behaviour of the Marwari community is interrogated in the context of the wider indigenous entrepreneurship literature.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The study adopts a qualitative approach in exploring the thoughts, feelings, beliefs and effectual entrepreneurial behaviour of a sample of Marwari entrepreneurs. An exploratory, qualitative content analysis method was adopted to highlight the emerging insights into traditional entrepreneurship.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The study identifies unique, traditional Marwari behavioural constructs such as Sakh and Samai and the role it plays in trust-based business relationships. Overall, the study finds that although the Marwari practices and ecosystem enable a deep understanding of the entrepreneurial and business process, they do not facilitate creative innovation or entrepreneurial experimentation as seen within modern start-up incubation ecosystems.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000The study took a conscious decision to restrict further data collection upon saturation and used a purposeful sampling technique to increase the richness of this study rather than enlarge the sample and dilute the quality of the data.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000The study identifies nuances of Marwari’s traditional practices that have come to determine their effectual tendencies that support business growth and sustainability. The study, however, finds that the restrictiveness of the Marwari ecosystem practices on fluency of doing business rather than creative innovation and thought experimentation risks the longevity of the traditional ecosystem advantage enjoyed by the Marwaris for centuries.\u0000\u0000\u0000Social implications\u0000The study broadens the understanding of the uniqueness of traditional business communities, which are comparatively marginalized in mainstream entrepreneurship research. Via this study, it is seen that the Marwari form of entrepreneurship is collectivist rather than individualist in nature, which differentiates them from their Western counterparts. This helps to explain why entrepreneurs tend to behave differently; hence, achieving a universal definition of entrepreneurship remains a challenge.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000While the relationship between the sociocultural aspects of communities and their entrepreneurial behaviour is known, the role of the constituent elements of the Marwari sociocultural context and influence on business is unclear. This study takes the lead in identifying such elements of the Marwari sociocultural construct and argues how these elements can play a role in the Marwaris demonstrating tendencies of effectual behaviour.\u0000","PeriodicalId":45322,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47105128","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A bibliometric analysis and text mining of the entrepreneurial marketing domain: emerging trends and future research directions","authors":"Tayyab Amjad, Michael Dent, Nur Naha Abu Mansor","doi":"10.1108/jrme-03-2021-0032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jrme-03-2021-0032","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The entrepreneurial marketing (EM) literature has grown rapidly during the last decade, yet much is left undiscovered. This paper aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis and text mining of the EM domain to provide trends in previous EM research to address this issue. Future avenues for EM research are provided.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Using the Scopus database, a bibliometric analysis and text mining are conducted with EM articles published between 1976 and 2020.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The paper reports the most frequently published and cited authors and their co-author networks. Journals which contain these articles are included with country data, subject areas and use of author keywords related to the EM topic. Frequencies of keywords and newly-emerging keywords in every three-year period during the past 12 years are also examined. The findings suggest that future researchers should explore the subtopics of EM education, legitimation, entrepreneurial networking and social media/digital marketing within the EM domain.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000Bibliometric analysis and text mining are relatively new methods with which to study the EM research domain, allowing for analysis of emerging trends over the past 12 years.\u0000","PeriodicalId":45322,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43334613","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Strategic orientation and its role in linking human capital with the performance of small and medium enterprises in Indonesia","authors":"M. Iqbal, M. K. Mawardi, Brillyaness Sanawiri, R. Alfisyahr, Ina Syarifah","doi":"10.1108/jrme-11-2021-0150","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jrme-11-2021-0150","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This study aims to investigate the ways that human capital influences the strategic orientation variables entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and market orientation (MO), which ultimately leverage the firm performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000This study used a quantitative method with a total of 274 SMEs in the Regency of Gresik, East Java, Indonesia, as the observable population. Furthermore, the identified samples obtained through the random sampling technique were determined using the Slovin formula with 163 SMEs used for analysis. As the means of analysis, this study used a statistical approach by using PLS-SEM statistics from SmartPLS software. This analytical tool has been proven to be a robust statistical tool that has been used in many marketing studies.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000This study found that human capital is a key determinant of EO and MO as strategic orientations of SMEs. Furthermore, this study highlighted that SMEs’ strategic orientations (i.e. EO and MO) provide a valuable thrust that leverages firm performance. Moreover, the role of human capital in leveraging firm performance was found to be significant with the role of the joint effect of EO and MO as mediator. This implies that human capital is not solely a single determinant that leverages SMEs’ performance.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000There are few aspects of limitations in this research that could be enhanced by other scholars in the discipline of entrepreneurship. First, the strategic orientation concept being indicated by EO and MO had yet to provide a comprehensive view of strategic orientation. Second, this research used samples that represent the traditional furniture cluster in East Java and had yet to explore other clusters such as food processing and services cluster which may be relevant to the context of SMEs in Indonesia.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000As a practical implication, this study would benefit policymakers in Indonesia, such as the Ministry for Cooperatives and SMEs to provide assistance to SMEs to progressively nurture capacity-building through formal and informal education to leverage human capital. Moreover, it could benefit other relevant businesses, such as national banks in Indonesia whose interests are significant, especially in providing financial access to SMEs in Indonesia.\u0000\u0000\u0000Social implications\u0000The social implication of this research lay the focus on the suggestion by which SMEs must be able to optimize their capabilities by enhancing levels of human capital particularly for traditionally managed SMEs. The ability to survive external pressures for would be able to contribute to the social well-being of their society as many people are dependent heavily in the operation of the SMEs.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000The significance of this study is twofold. Although the use of human capital as a determinant of firm performance has been discussed in the literature, few studies to date has sought to p","PeriodicalId":45322,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44680002","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Are social chameleons prone to entrepreneurship?","authors":"S. Ettis","doi":"10.1108/jrme-04-2022-0055","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jrme-04-2022-0055","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000People differ in the extent to which they dispositionally monitor their projected images, expressive behavior and self-presentation according to the contingencies of the situations. Building on Snyder’s self-monitoring theory, this paper aims to assess the influences of self-monitoring on entrepreneurial intention and explain the process responsible for these effects. Because high self-monitors and low self-monitors differ in their ability to adapt their self-presentation and patterns of behaviors to the contingencies of the situation, it was reasonable to suspect that chameleon-like high self-monitors will be more prone to entrepreneurship than true-to-themselves low self-monitors.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Based on a sample of 296 respondents, a self-administered questionnaire assessing the attitude toward entrepreneurship, risk aversion, entrepreneurial intentions and the four dimensions of self-monitoring (acting ability, extraversion, other-directedness and speaking ability), and other control variables was conducted.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The findings of this study generally support that self-monitoring has relevance in predicting an individual’s entrepreneurial intentions. Because high self-monitors have more acting and speaking abilities, are more extroverted and are more concerned with how others perceive them than are low self-monitors, they would be more likely to start a business and become business owners as they possess favorable attitudes toward entrepreneurship. The overall result regarding risk aversion fails to support a mediating relationship between self-monitoring and entrepreneurial intentions. However, at the same time, the findings confirm that risk aversion directly reduces entrepreneurial intention.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000The findings expand the implementation of Snyder’s self-monitoring theory in the entrepreneurship arena and make an important contribution to the many additions and alterations that have been implemented to the theory of planned behavior in the entrepreneurship literature to better explain entrepreneurial intentions and behaviors. The results add to these works by demonstrating that self-monitoring is a trait that influences the attitude toward entrepreneurship. Also, attitude toward entrepreneurship was found to be a mediator of the relationship between self-monitoring and entrepreneurial intentions. The limitation concerns the use of a convenience sample of students and cross-sectional data.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000The outcomes of this study suggest greater utility for developers of educational curriculums, training programs and start-up knowledge in entrepreneurship. Targeting high self-monitors for training and educational programs in entrepreneurship and including the dimensions of self-monitoring, particularly acting abilities, speaking abilities, extraversion and other-directedness, in entrepreneurship training content will make these programs more successful, offered to the corre","PeriodicalId":45322,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42972735","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Linking marketing imperfections to sustainable entrepreneurial prospects and sustainability: the case of Indian medicinal and aromatic plants businesses","authors":"P. Chandra","doi":"10.1108/jrme-01-2023-0015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jrme-01-2023-0015","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000Drawing on the extant literature that suggests marketing imperfections are an opportunity to create and establish a foundation for sustainable entrepreneurial prospects and sustainability, this study aims to delineate a marketing mix strategy for Indian medicinal and aromatic plant (MAP) resources to optimize the benefits derived from their existing MAP business and address its marketing imperfections.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000A case study research design was used to investigate the MAP sector, and 37 in-depth interviews were conducted to collect the primary data. Given the study’s exploratory nature, an inductive approach was used for data analysis, and conventional qualitative content analysis was performed to analyze the data.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The findings reveal that a marketing mix strategy is relevant for linking MAP businesses to the country’s sustainable livelihood options, entrepreneurial prospects, resource management and the economy and for improving the sector’s global competitive position.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to explore and present a marketing mix strategy for Indian MAP resources. Thus, it extends the marketing and entrepreneurship literature regarding natural resource businesses to advance sustainable entrepreneurial prospects and sustainability. The study concludes by offering strategic clues for implementing the marketing mix strategy in the Indian MAP sector and businesses.\u0000","PeriodicalId":45322,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47250905","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Customer development-product development dilemmas in startup firms: a qualitative investigation into founder's involvement","authors":"Dale T. Eesley, Yukti Sharma, R. Singh, Birud Sindhav","doi":"10.1108/jrme-02-2022-0014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jrme-02-2022-0014","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000Entrepreneurship literature recognizes the founder’s involvement as a salient factor in determining the success of startups. Nevertheless, its role in conjunction with the marketing roles of founders has been relatively unexplored. Very little is known about how founder’s involvement in marketing tasks (i.e. developing products, sales and customers) helps attain success in early startups. To fill this knowledge gap, this study aims to qualitatively investigate the founder’s involvement under three vital functional areas (i.e. sales, customer development and product development) and also explain their entwined nature of the relationship as the early-stage startups grow to become a scalable businesses.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000This study used purposive sampling for conducting in-depth interviews with 11 startup founders in the midwestern city of the USA. A constant comparative method was used to code the interview transcripts, while juxtaposing them with extant literature.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000Using three levels of axial coding, this study identified 32 descriptive codes, 11 aggregate codes and 2 interpretive codes. Following this, the authors present five propositions that illustrate the relationship between founders’ involvement, customer development, product development and sales.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000This study offers guidelines to founders on how they could generate initial sales, identify early customers and build and sustain mutually beneficial relationships with them.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This study contributes to the extant literature on entrepreneurship and innovation literature. It presents motivation and potential processes, including systematic activities performed by founders in generating sales in conjunction with customer development and product development, thereby making a novel contribution.\u0000","PeriodicalId":45322,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48105727","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}