The Resources Potential of the Innovative Entrepreneur

The economic theory of the entrepreneur is based on three key-words: uncertainty, risk and innovation. The theory was developed in the 18th century with Cantillon who defined the entrepreneur as a risk taker and the engine of economic evolution. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Say and Schumpeter contributed to innovation. Thereafter the Austria School of thought analyzed the discovery process of entrepreneurial opportunities, underlining the key role of social relationship networks reducing the market uncertainty. The concept of the resource potential of the innovative entrepreneur makes the synthesis of these different theories show on the one hand that the entrepreneur is a socialized economic agent, and on the other hand that the entrepreneur owns three kind of resources that they capitalize and enhance in order to develop their project in a context of uncertainty.