University of Amsterdam
Faculty of Economics and Business
Master Thesis
The entrepreneur’s experience of passion and entrepreneurial learning
MSc. Business Administration – Strategy track
Date:
March 22, 2018
Name:
Vince van Empel
Student number:
10871756
Statement of originality
This document is written by Vince van Empel who declares to take full responsibility for the contents of this document.
I declare that the text and the work presented in this document is original and that no sources other than those mentioned in the text and its references have been used in creating it.
The Faculty of Economics and Business is responsible solely for the supervision of completion of the work, not for the contents.
Executive Summary
The number of entrepreneurs starting a new business is increasing every year and the new businesses they create are becoming a major part of the economy. However, almost 90% of the entrepreneurs tend to fail in the first year. To increase the likelihood of more start-ups being successful and decrease the economic and personal fall-out of unsuccessful ventures, more research about entrepreneurship is necessary. One term that is regularly seen in autobiographies, documentaries and media about entrepreneurship is passion. Passion is often described as one of the main drivers for entrepreneurs to take action and acts as a motivational force during times the entrepreneur faces challenges and difficulties. However, the construct of passion and its role on different parts of the entrepreneurial process has not been researched expensively. One important part of the entrepreneurial process is learning. Entrepreneurs need to learn in order to build skills and acquire knowledge to overcome challenges and difficulties during the venture process. In doing so, some entrepreneurs seemed to be more persistent than others. Therefore, this study addresses passion and how the construct relates to entrepreneurial learning.
A sample of various entrepreneurs is used to gather different stories about passion and learning to build understanding about the topics and discover if the two constructs relate to each other. Theories about passion, obsession, entrepreneurship and learning were used to build the
conceptual framework. Subsequently, qualitative research is conducted with the use of ten semi-structured interviews with five entrepreneurs and five key referents to triangulate the data. The main outcome of the study illustrates the complexity of passion and the relationships with entrepreneurial behavior and learning. The passion of the entrepreneurs seemed to be continuous in sense of the degree of obsessiveness. During the early stages of the venture process entrepreneurs were more likely to experience an obsessive form of passion. Additionally, there seemed to be a tipping point during the venture process were the
entrepreneurs changed their behavior resulting in a less obsessive form of their passion. In either way, passion motivated the entrepreneurs to engage in continuous entrepreneurial action and helped them to overcome challenges and difficulties. Furthermore, it seemed that an early developed passion resulted in relevant accumulated skills and knowledge before start-up. During the venture process passion seemed to stimulate entrepreneurs to acquire new skills and knowledge in order to secure the continuity of their venture.
Preface and Acknowledgements
This thesis is the last stage in the curriculum Master Strategy for Business Administration at the Amsterdam Business School. First, I would like to thank my supervisor dr.
Alexiev for his
guidance during this academic journey by helping me keeping my focus and giving
helpful feedback on my thesis. Secondly, I would like to thank all the participants for
their valuable time and input. Furthermore, I would like to thank my family and friends
for their support during this process.
Contents
Statement of originality ... 2
Executive Summary ... 3
Preface and Acknowledgements ... 4
Contents ... 5
1. Introduction ... 7
2. Literature Review ... 10
2.1 Passion... 10
2.1.1 Passion and Emotion ... 10
2.1.2 Harmonious and obsessive passion ... 13
2.1.3 Obsession ... 15
2.1.4. Behavioral addiction ... 16
2.2 Entrepreneurial learning ... 19
2.2.1 Background to entrepreneurial learning ... 19
2.2.2 Dynamic learning perspective of entrepreneurship ... 19
2.2.3 Entrepreneurial learning as a competency ... 22
2.4 Conceptual framework ... 23
2.4.2 Definitions derived from the literature ... 23
3. Methodology ... 24 3.1 Sample ... 25 3.2 Data collection ... 26 3.3 Data analysis ... 27 4. Results ... 29 4.1 Passion... 29 4.1.1 Work-life balance ... 30
4.1.2 Harmonious vs. obsessive passion ... 34
4.2 Learning ... 37
4.2.1 Learning history ... 37
4.2.2 Learning task ... 38
4.2.3 Entrepreneurial Success ... 39
4.2.4 Combining the passion and learning construct ... 40
6. Conclusion ... 47
6.1 Limitations ... 48
6.2 Implications ... 48
References ... 50
Appendix ... 58
1. Interview protocol - entrepreneur ... 58
1. Introduction
In the last decades, the economic landscape has changed significantly. One phenomenon that can be observed in recent years is the emerge of many start-ups. The Kauffman index (2016), a measure of business start-up activity in the United States, indicates that between 2014 till 2016 start-up activity had the largest year over year increase in the last two decades. Venture capital investments for the year 2015 reached $59.1 billion, marking the highest amount deployed since 2000 and the second highest on record (NVCA, 2016). Similar observations can be made in Europe were investments in tech start-ups more than quadrupled from $2.8bn in 2011 to $13.6bn in 2015 (Atomico, 2016). Thus, the interest for investing in new ventures is growing and they become a bigger part of the economy. To make the investments in those ventures worthwhile, it is important that they become successful. Therefore, this study deeps out some constructs in the entrepreneurship literature that are related to entrepreneurial success.
As pointed out in multiple studies, entrepreneurship is an important driver for economic growth (Wennekers, 1999; Armington, 2006; Audretsch and Keilback, 2007) and plays a significant role in national and regional development (van Stel, et al., 2005; Fritsch, 2013). By creating new ventures entrepreneurs will fulfill the economic needs of people in the future (Mazzarol et al., 1999). They contribute to innovation, business development and job creation. Given the importance of entrepreneurship still more than 90% of start-ups fail in the first few years (Marmer, et al., 2011). Therefore, literature needs to advance on why some start-ups are more successful than others. In the initial stages of the venture process, many start-ups have scarce initial researches and the entrepreneur’s characteristics are in most cases seen as the main performance determinants (Criaco et al., 2014). Till present day, entrepreneurship and
economics research mainly focused on describing what those entrepreneurial characteristics are and how they contribute to success. For example, Ciavarella, et al. (2004) used the Big Five personality traits to study entrepreneurs and found a strong correlation between
conscientiousness and entrepreneurial success. Research is rather limited about the mechanisms behind how the entrepreneur’s characteristics are formed and why they do what they do. In interviews with entrepreneurs often the term passion is used and linked with success. However, literature about passion in an entrepreneurial context is scarce. Passion could be one of the explanations why some and not others achieve entrepreneurial success.
People often look at successful entrepreneurs and think they have always had it figured out. Many of them seem to be born with useful characteristics for success. In most cases people tend
to see only the top of the iceberg, the time when an entrepreneur is successful. This is very well visible in movies and TV shows where being an entrepreneur is overly glorified. However, running a business is hard and not everyone is capable of doing it. When Elon Musk was asked in an interview about his number one piece of advice for young entrepreneurs, he replied: “If you need inspiring words, do not do it” (Business Insider, 2017). He emphasized on the point that it’s very difficult to start companies and not all people are wired to do it. Entrepreneurs would face a lot of failures and tireless effort before their hard work turns into success. He implies that the entrepreneur needs a strong determination to overcome the difficult challenges along the way (Business Insider, 2017).
This raises several questions: how does this ‘wiring’ looks like? Where does this determination comes from? And what are the underlying motivational mechanisms? Since the entrepreneur’s characteristics are seen as the main performance determinants, how does this determination affect learning to overcome the challenges along the way? Addressing those questions could for example have major implications for education and training programs. If the process of learning shows to be more important than the content, courses and training sessions should focus on behavioral modification rather than skill acquisition and knowledge transfer to accomplish successful learning. Furthermore, by identifying components critical to entrepreneurial success, future research could develop concepts to increase the likelihood of more start-ups being successful and decrease the economic and personal fall-out of unsuccessful ventures.
The entrepreneurs’ characteristics like skills, competences, experience, cognition and ability to learn which are developed during the entrepreneur’s lifetime play an important role during the entrepreneurial process. How and when entrepreneurs gain their characteristics, i.e. the learning process, is rather complex. The dependent variables are difficult to measure and therefore the learning process is hard to perceive. Although literature on entrepreneurship is extensive, a significant amount of theories originates from the field of economics and mainly focus on the “entrepreneurial function” (Casson, 1982), i.e. describing entrepreneurial activities and behavioral characteristics of an entrepreneur. The main shortcoming of this literature is that it symbolizes a static approach to entrepreneurship. Learning by the entrepreneur leading to change in cognition and the development of skills and competencies overtime is not incorporated in many of those theories.
The studies that do address entrepreneurial learning mainly focus on how learning occurs and the learning outcomes. For example, Cope (2005) theorizes that learning gets triggered by
significant discontinuous events during the entrepreneurial process which stimulates higher-level learning fundamental to the entrepreneur in both personal and business terms. Despite that the literature about entrepreneurial learning is growing and the importance as an integral element of entrepreneurship is recognized, less attention has been paid to the drivers that set entrepreneurial learning in motion. One of the missing links in the literature is an explanation of how entrepreneurs engage in sustained entrepreneurial learning during their lifetime. This perspective is a step further than the traditional paradigm-driven approach of accumulating knowledge by observing new entrepreneurial phenomena (Lumpkin, 2011).
One term that is regularly seen in autobiographies, documentaries and media about entrepreneurship is passion. It often gets described as one of the main drivers for an
entrepreneur to take action. For example, passion is suggested to play an important role in the decision process whether or not the entrepreneur acts upon an opportunity (Brannback et al. 2006). However, the recognition of passion as a key element of entrepreneurial effectiveness is something from recent years and a deeper understanding of the construct and how passion influences the entrepreneur is necessary (Cardon et al. 2009).
It seems required that an entrepreneur has a strong determination to overcome the difficult challenges during the venture process. To do so an entrepreneur must engage in continuous entrepreneurial learning to develop skills and knowledge necessary for venture creation and eventually success. However, why entrepreneurs engage in continuous entrepreneurial learning is mainly unanswered. Passion is suggested to play an important role in entrepreneurial behavior and sets entrepreneurs to action. The purpose of this study will be to understand how
entrepreneurs experience passion and explore if there is a connection between passion and entrepreneurial learning behavior. This results in the following research question:
2. Literature Review
This chapter of the study presents relevant literature with respect to passion and entrepreneurial learning behavior. The literature forms the base for the understanding of the constructs, inform the research framework and eventually an attempt to answer the research question. The articles were found via database searches on keywords related to the main topics which were later extended after the examination of references in related articles. Since the construct of passion related to entrepreneurial learning behavior is relatively new, it was difficult to cover all the literature streams. However, an appropriate selection of articles is presented.
The literature review is divided in two sections based on the two main topics: passion and entrepreneurial learning. The first section starts with an introduction to passion and related topics. In the second section, different views on entrepreneurial learning will be discussed. The content in this chapter together form the base of understanding about the two constructs and were used to inform the conceptual framework.
2.1 Passion
Since passion is a fairly new topic in the entrepreneurial literature, research about passion in an entrepreneurial context is limited especially quantitative data to support new insights. To get a better understanding about passion this section focusses on the literature available and makes links with other topics in the literature such as emotion, obsession and behavioral addiction since these topics seemed to be closely related.
2.1.1 Passion and Emotion
“…Our passion drives us, in a place where we have little money to start with – we only have ourselves to draw on. This is the theatre-makers' investment, this is like a currency to us, the
value of the work often is reflected in how much we have emotionally invested in it.."
Kerry Irvine co-founder of Scenepool (The Guardian, 2013)
In the entrepreneurship literature that do address passion, the term is regularly referred to as the intense positive feelings individuals experience as a result of their engagement in
entrepreneurial activities that are meaningful and salient to the entrepreneur (Cardon, et al., 2009). However, passion and emotion are often avoided in organizational theories (Cardon et
al., 2005). Despite research about the role of passion and emotion in the entrepreneurship literature is limited, it is widely recognized as a central component of entrepreneurial motivation and entrepreneurial action (Cardon et al., 2005; Baron, 2008). Since it is restricting the ability to explain entrepreneurial behavior, studying passion and emotion has been put on the
entrepreneurship research agenda (Baron, 2008; Cardon et al., 2009; Perttula and Cardon, 2011). Reviewing other sources such as public press reports, interviews with entrepreneurs and autobiographies will show that passion is mentioned numerous times as an intrinsic element that motivates entrepreneurs. However, as well in those sources an explanation about how passion works and its influence on different parts of the entrepreneurial process is in many cases not given. Thus, passion as an underexplored personal characteristic need to get more attention since it has potential relevance to entrepreneurial intention formation and explaining entrepreneurial behavior (Clercq et al., 2013).
Although literature about passion in the entrepreneurship limited, new research is promising. Klaukien et al. (2010) emphasize on the importance of passion and argue that passion is crucial for entrepreneurial action. Passion is suggested to be an important motivational energy for entrepreneurs to engage in sustained entrepreneurial practice despite challenges and obstacles (Vallerand et al. 2008). Entrepreneurs need to really love their work and must be determined about pursuing their goals given the many challenges and difficulties entrepreneurs face during the venture process (Baum and Locke, 2004). Therefore, both passion and tenacity are
suggested to be most promising with regard to leadership and entrepreneurship support (Locke, 2000). In a qualitative study Locke (2000) identified passion for work as one of the core characteristics of great wealth creators such as Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg. However, there is no quantitative support for passion as predictor of performance for entrepreneurial ventures (Baum and Locke, 2004).
Since passion and emotion are related phenomena (Fisher, 2011), insights about emotion could help build understanding about passion. Bird (1989) describes entrepreneurial behavior as “passionate, full of emotional energy, drive, and spirit” (pp. 7– 8). It is longer known that during the venture creation process entrepreneurs experience intense emotional experiences (Bird, 1989), and some researchers suggest it is the base of their actions (Karp, 2006).
Schumpeter was one of the first researchers addressing the link between emotional rewards and entrepreneurial behavior (Casson and Wadeson, 2007). Since that moment researcher continued studying the effects of emotion on other parts of the venture process such as opportunity recognition, decision-making and risk taking. For example, Baron (2008) suggest that emotions
play a role in opportunity identification. Foo (2009) found that emotions play an important role in in evaluating and taking risk decisions. In this case, happiness in particular increased the likelihood of taking riskier investment decisions. Furthermore, Goel and Karri (2007) suggest that emotions lower uncertainty and form the base for persistence. In an earlier study, Sheppard (2003) found that the grief plays a significant role in the learning capability of the entrepreneur after business failure. Since passion and emotion are related phenomena, similar patters might be found for passion. For example, passion is seen as important in an entrepreneurship setting because it drives entrepreneurs to face a high level of uncertainty and resource shortages (Timmons, 2000) This is similar to Foo (2009) and Goel and Karri (2007) findings with regards to emotion.
For a long time, researchers concluded that personal characteristics were unimportant for new venture performance. However, they missed the importance of effects that occur indirectly and other personal characteristics next to traits (Baum et al., 2001). Since passion is argued to be an important motivational mechanism that sets entrepreneurs to action (Cardon et al., 2005; Baron, 2008), it is necessary to consider passion and motivation as an important personal characteristic of an entrepreneur (Clercq et al., 2013). Baum et al. (2001) found a direct effect between motivation, organization factors and venture performance. However, they found that trait and skill composite factors showed to have an indirect effect through motivation and organizational factors (Baum et al., 2001). In a similar more recent study, Baum and Locke (2004) tried to find a relationship between entrepreneurial traits and skill, situationally specific motivation and subsequent venture growth. They found that goals, self-efficacy, and communicated vision mediated the effects of passion, tenacity and new resource skill (Baum and Locke, 2004). Passion for work is defined as to which extend individuals love to work and experience joy from engaging in work-related activities and measured in terms of attachment, emotions of love and longing (Baum and Locke, 2004; Shane et al., 2003). Furthermore, Baum and Locke (2004) argue that passion can be witnessed as the entrepreneur working long hours during venture start-up and phases of growth. Moreover, passion for work is regularly seen as a characteristic for successful business leaders (Bass and Stogdill, 1990; House and Shamir, 1993).
Passion for work addresses the emotional part of an individual’s approach to work (Vallerand et al., 2003; Frijda et al., 1991). It is important to note that an individual’s passion for work might change over time due external circumstances such as the individual’s perception of the
organizational context (Luthans, 2002; Burke and Fiksenbaum, 2009). A person could have a strong passion for work if that person is allowed to experiment with new business ideas without
someone else directly interfering in this process; whereas the same person’s passion for work may decline when operating in an environment where strict procedures and rules apply (Vallerand et al., 2003; Frijda et al., 1991). Moreover, in the literature passion for work is also linked with cognition where people with a passion for work engage in more systematic and intensive knowledge processing (Frederickson, 1998; Ho et al., 2011). The individual’s ability to reduce uncertainty in meeting work-related goals tend to be greater as a result of a greater passion or intensity with which individuals undertake work-related activities (Ho et al., 2011; Vallerand et al., 2003). The level of intensity exposes individuals to more diverse options for solving challenges (Frederickson, 1998; Ho et al., 2011; Vallerand et al., 2003). For example, Ho et al. (2011) found that individual’s cognitive engagement, i.e. the individual’s focus and psychologically presence when performing a particular task, is a mediator between passion and work performance. However, a high level of intensity with which individuals undertake work-related activities may relate to an obsessive form of passion. Prior research suggest that passion could be differentiated in harmonious and obsessive passion (Ho et al., 2011; Vallerand et al., 2003). Vallerand (2008) showed positive correlations between adaptive outcomes and
harmonious passion, and less adaptive outcomes and obsessive passion (Vallerand 2008). A deeper understanding of harmonious and obsessive passion is necessary due the potential relevance of explaining an individual’s entrepreneurial intention and persistence to engage in work-related activities.
2.1.2 Harmonious and obsessive passion
Vallerand et al. (2003) defines passion as a strong inclination toward an activity that individuals like, has importance to them and where one invests time and energy in. The activity that an individual is passionate about becomes a key feature of that person’s identity. In their study, Vallerand et al. (2003) propose a dualistic model of passion and suggest that passion could either be harmonious or obsessive in nature leading to different outcomes. Harmonious and obsessive passion are defined as followed according to the authors (Vallerand, 2008; Vallerand et al. 2003)
Harmonious passion
Vallerand et al. (2003) suggest that a person experiences a harmonious passion when that person freely engages in an activity they love, and the activity becomes part of the persons’ identity as a result of an autonomous internalization. The authors propose that passion arises from intrinsic forces in the individual. The person gets motivated to engage in the activity, does it of their own violation and experiences personal endorsement when doing so. Additionally, the
person is able to engage or disengage in the activity at any time with no contingencies attached to it. With regards to harmonious passion, the activity integrates in a significant but not
overpowering manner into other areas of the person’s identity and life. Although the persons can fully engage in the activity and experience positive outcomes from it, the person always stays in control of engaging in the passionate activity. A person with a harmonious passion would not experience conflicts between the passionate activity and other activities in life. Therefore, when the person is not able to engage in the passionate activity, the person is able to focus on other activities in life. Moreover, if the passionate activity conflicts with other parts in life, the person is able to disengage in the passionate activity to focus on other activities. Thus, a harmonious passion is characterized by a flexible motivational force that leads to a person being able to engage in an activity with persistence. However, at any moment the person is in control of their behavior at will.
Obsessive passion
In contrast to harmonious passion, Vallerand et al. (2003) suggest that a person experiences an obsessive passion when the internalization of the activity into the persons’ identity is controlled. The person gets motivated to engage in the activity but the persistence to it originates from intrapersonal and/or interpersonal pressure. In this case there are contingencies attached to the activity such as feelings of social acceptance, self-esteem or the person experiences an uncontrollable excitement from engaging in the activity. Even though the activity could be enjoyable, the person feels forced to engage in the activity without violation as a result of the controlling nature of these internal contingencies. Therefore, persons who experience an obsessive passion are not able to control their own behavior and get controlled by the activity instead. Thus, a person with an obsessive passion experiences an uncontrollable urge to engage in an enjoyable activity however that person must engage in the activity. When that person is not able to do so the person find it difficult to focus on other activities leading to conflicts with other parts in life. The activity takes disproportionate space in the person’s identity resulting in negative cognitive and behavioral consequences. As a result, that person may experience frustration and rumination. Thus, an obsessive passion is characterized by a motivational force that leads to a person engaging in an activity with non-flexible persistence because these persons are not able to control their own behavior.
2.1.3 Obsession
Since the differentiation between harmonious or obsessive might explain entrepreneurial intention and persistence, a better understanding of an obsession is relevant. In the academic literature obsession is generally reflected as a perspective of illness and presented with extreme cases. Considering that an obsession as well exists in healthy populations it may indicate that more research needs to be done on this subject (Maslow, 1970). Maslow (1970) argues that, to understand a phenomenon the perspective of both the healthy and sick need to be taken into account.
The content of obsession has changed during the centuries resulting in many forms occurring in the literature. At one part of the spectrum there is the classical or clinical form of obsession typified by an individual experiencing intrusive thoughts or impulses resulting in anxiety or distress (DSM-IV 2000). However, later studies show that obsession as well exist in non-clinical populations were individuals experience similar phenomena like intrusive thoughts (Salkovskis and Harrison, 1984; Rachman and de Silva, 1978; Morillo et al. 2007). Clinical obsessions could lead to a lower quality of life as a result of distress and possibly lead up to compulsive behavior (DSM-IV 2000). However, Rachman (2003) argues that with a normal obsession an individual does not have to experience a similar impact. For example, Najmi et al. (2009) suggests that negative outcomes as a result of intrusive thoughts will reduce when individuals are able to accept these thoughts. Therefore, some researchers suggest that a large number of obsessions are not reported by individuals (Rasmussen and Eisen 1992; De Silva and Rachman, 2004).
In contrast to the negative outcomes of an obsession as a response to emotional impulses, emotions are as well seen as a thriving force resulting in motivation that set individuals to action (Deckers, 2005). Some other researchers found that strong emotions can enable individuals to act and engage in purposeful behavior, however those emotions do not necessarily have to be negative in nature (Maslow 1970; Locke and Latham, 2002). This is in line with literature about emotion, where emotions are part of passionate behavior if an individual engage in work-related activities (Vallerand et al., 2003). Thus, intrusive thoughts may result in both positive and negative outcomes such as anxiety and distress, however these thoughts could as well be part of passion (Fisher, 2011). Furthermore, individuals who experience an obsession are considered to attach great personal significance to those thoughts (Salkovskis, 1985). Additionally, if an individual highly values a task or activity, they seem to be able to pursuit that activity with high intensity and persistence (Locke 2000). Thus, when individuals put a lot of time and energy in
their ventures and attach great personal significance to it, the venture becomes part of their identity. Therefore, entrepreneurs may develop intrusive thoughts for their ventures (Cardon et al., 2010; Fisher, 2011).
In short, individuals that cope with a clinical obsession experience intrusive thoughts or other impulses resulting in negative feelings like anxiety or distress (DSM-IV 2000). Individuals put great personal significance to those thought which can affect their lives (Salkovskis, 1985). The same applies to a normal obsession however it does not always have to result in similar
outcomes such as feelings of anxiety or distress compared to a clinical obsession (Rachman 2003). This opens the possibility that a normal obsession could lead to productive outcomes (Fisher, 2011). Other research suggests that elaborated intrusions could help individuals to continuously engage in repetitive behavior to reach desired goals (Kavanagh et al. 2005). The frequency of intrusiveness increases when an individual associate more personal significance to the thought (Fritzler et al. 2008). In this case, the possibility exists that elaborated thoughts turn into intrusive thoughts and eventually become an obsession (Salkovskis, 1985). Thus, this kind of motivating obsession could be causing productive outcomes (Fisher, 2011).
Since passion and obsession show similar characteristics such as generating strong emotions and feelings, the possibility exists that individuals experience an obsession for their ventures which could explain entrepreneurial intention and persistence. In this case, individuals may experience anxiety and distress as a respond to intrusive thoughts about their ventures. Eventually, this could be the main motivator for entrepreneurs to engage in venture activities. Therefore, the presence of obsession may also be a reason why some entrepreneurs engage in sustained entrepreneurial action (Fisher, 2011).
2.1.4. Behavioral addiction
Burke and Fiksenbaum (2009) found that a significant positive correlation between passion and addiction. In their study, addiction is defined as feeling driven to work as a result of inner pressure which is similar to a component of workaholism (Burke and Fiksenbaum, 2009). More results showed a significant correlation between passion, addiction, work investment and perfectionism. Thus, insights about addiction might explain an individual’s persistence to engage in continuous entrepreneurial action.
The term addiction is generally used to describe a physiological dependence whereby a person is addicted to a stimulus. Before the 1980’s, the addiction construct was mainly applied to
chemical dependencies since it was too controversial to apply the construct in other fields of study. After this period researchers started to demonstrate similar characteristics between behavior-based addiction and chemical addiction whereby the notion of behavior addiction became widely accepted (Holden, 2001). Holden (2001, p. 980) states that “as far as the brain is concerned, a reward is a reward, regardless of whether it comes from a chemical or an
experience”. Since this moment many researchers started to apply the construct of behavioral to a variety of addictive (non-chemical) behaviors in different contexts. The evidence from these studies show the existence of addictive behavioral patterns leading to the buildup of internal pleasure and relief from discomfort with simultaneous feelings of powerlessness and
unmanageability of the behavior (Block, 2008; Davis, 2001; Demetrovics et al., 2008; Ko et al., 2009; Blaszczynski and Nower, 2002).
Since recent years Internet addiction is one of the most studied subjects in the behavioral addiction literature (Aziz and Zickar, 2010; Spivack et al., 2014;). The behavioral patterns found in this research are similar to other behavioral addictions such as gambling, shopping and drinking (Blaszczynski and Nower, 2002; Spivack et al., 2014). Hence, in combination with Internet addiction being the most recent and actively studied topic in this field, findings can be generalized to study other behavioral addictions (Spivack et al., 2014). Spivack et al. (2014) used the Internet addiction literature to study the motives of habitual entrepreneurs who engage in entrepreneurship repeatedly. They derived six components of behavioral addiction from three major studies about Internet addiction which are: obsessive thoughts, withdrawal/engagement cycles, self-worth, tolerance, neglect, negative outcomes (Spivack et al., 2014).
Next to the association between addiction and negative outcomes, past research focused on the effect of behavioral addiction on social, economic and behavioral factors with possibly positive outcomes. In this case, behavioral addiction was studied from a neutral standpoint where behavioral addiction could either have neutral, positive and negative implications for an individual (Spivack et al., 2014). An example of this research are studies about workaholism where an individual is captivated by work (Schor, 1008; Burke, 2001; Bonebright et. al, 2000; Porter, 2001). Individuals try to squeeze as much as possible into a 24 hours day and accept this way of life. Since working many hours is regularly seen as a condition for success, therefore individuals could find it very hard to release themselves from work (Porter, 2001). As a result, this may result in negative outcomes like family issues or less life satisfaction. However, workaholism may as well result into positive outcomes such as promotions and better wages (Spivack et al., 2014). In general, there are three components used to measure workaholism:
drive to work, excessive work involvement and lack of work enjoyment (Spence and Robbins, 1992; Aziz and Zickar., 2006). Drive to work refers to an individual’s motivation which enables them to engage in work-related activities. Second, work involvement refers to the extent to which individuals dictate their time and are dedicated to work productively. Third, work
enjoyment refers to the overall joy individuals derive from work. Since past research has shown a positive correlation between passion and addiction and addiction showing similarities with workaholism (Burke and Fiksenbaum, 2009), components of both addiction and workaholism might explain an entrepreneurial intention and persistence.
2.2 Entrepreneurial learning
Different perspectives on entrepreneurial learning could be found in the literature. To get a better understanding about the entrepreneurial learning process, this section starts with a giving a background to entrepreneurial learning. Second, the dynamic learning perspective of
entrepreneurship will be covered. On stream in the literature suggest that entrepreneurial learning is a competency which will be covered in the last part.
2.2.1 Background to entrepreneurial learning
Individual competencies are underlying characteristics of superior job performance (Boyatzis, 1982). To develop entrepreneurial capabilities learning is essential (Rae and Carswell, 2000). By learning successfully, the entrepreneur acquires knowledge, skills and competencies required for different stages in the business process. Learning starts prior to start-up and is a moderator for future success (Cope, 2001). As Reuber and Fischer (1999) illustrate it; each entrepreneur starts their new business with a stock of experience. In the same vein, Harvey and Evans (1995) refers to it as entrepreneurial preparedness were the entrepreneur approaches the start-up phase with a unique range of accumulated skills and knowledge. Cope (2001) found that some entrepreneurs are more prepared than others. The learning history as he describes it is a definitive factor in shaping the learning task, i.e. what the entrepreneur still needs to learn to face future challenges once the new business is created (Cope, 2005). Given the importance of learning, it is considered central to the process of entrepreneurial development (Deakins and Whittam, 2000). This is as well reflected in the entrepreneurship literature where since the last decade learning is gaining acceptance as an integral element (Cope, 2005). Minniti and Bygrave (2001) argue that entrepreneurship is a process of learning and therefore more entrepreneurship literature should incorporate theory of learning. To leverage formal and informal learning, Neck and Greene (2011) argue that learning a method is in most cases more important than learning specific content. More specifically, a method goes beyond understanding, knowing, talking, demands using, applying and acting. Learning a method is important due a constantly changing world where people need methods to stand the test of dramatic changes in content and context (Neck and Greene, 2011).
2.2.2 Dynamic learning perspective of entrepreneurship
In entrepreneurial learning literature, there is a widely supported view that entrepreneurs are action orientated and therefore the majority of their learning is experientially based (Rae and Carswell, 2000). Gibb (1997) describes a predominant contextual learning mode in small business environments. Entrepreneurs learn from people and businesses in their environment
such as peers, customers and suppliers based on feedback. Additionally, they can learn by copying them. The occurrence of learning is furthermore based on individual factors such as experimenting by the entrepreneur, problem solving and opportunity taking and learning from mistakes and learning by doing (Gibb, 1997). Learning by doing - undertaking activities such as trial and error, explicit problem solving and discovery - is argued to be the entrepreneur’s primary way of learning (Deakins and Freel, 1998; Young and Sexton, 1997). Considering entrepreneurial learning trough experience as the primary way of learning, a better
understanding is necessary about how entrepreneurs learn from experience; the mechanisms of entrepreneurial learning (Reuber and Fischer., 1993). Another view on entrepreneurial learning suggest that entrepreneurs learn through critical learning events (Deakins and Freel, 1998). Deakins and Freel (1998) suggest that the growth process of entrepreneurship is non-linear and discontinues and characterized by critical learning events. They argue that the success of the venture is based on the ability of the entrepreneur to maximize knowledge as a result of experiencing these critical learning events (Deakins and Freel, 1998). However, other views on entrepreneurial learning suggest that entrepreneurs not only learn through critical events. Entrepreneurs rather learn constantly during the whole entrepreneurial process when managing their venture (Hines and Thorpe, 1995).
In general, two different levels of learning are distinguishing. First, learning which is practical, routine and adaptive orientated and second learning that leads to new understandings and cognitive theories for action (Argyris and Schön, 1978). Examples in the literature are lower-level and higher-lower-level learning (Fiol and Lyles, 1985); incremental and transformational learning (Appelbaum and Goransson, 1997) and adaptive and generative learning (Senge, 1990). These definitions are in some cases seen as synonyms and used interchangeably. To illustrate the meaning of the different levels of learning, Fiol and Lyles (1985) definition of lower-level and higher-level is used. Lower-level learning is based on mere repetition of past behaviors. This type of learning captures only a certain element in general, is usually short-term, superficial and temporary, however associations are being formed (Fiol and Lyles, 1985). It is also known as single loop or routine level learning. Higher-level learning refers to the
development of complex associations and rules and understanding of causation with regards to new actions (Fiol and Lyles, 1985). This type of learning is also known as double loop learning. From the two types of learning, the higher-order forms of learning have the capability of challenging or redefining individual mental models (Appelbaum and Goransson, 1997; Kim, 1993). Mental models entail generalizations and assumptions that are deeply ingrained and influence our understanding of how people understand the world and take action (Senge, 1990).
Mental models are in the essence a representation or simplification of how individuals see the world (Kim, 1993; Spicer, 1998). Meaning perspectives as Mezirow (1991) defines it represents frameworks that “form, limit, and distort how we think, believe, and feel and how, what, when and why we learn” (p. 34).
Learning takes place during the whole lifespan of an individual (Cope, 2005). The construct of entrepreneurial preparedness, where the entrepreneur brings the immense complexity of accumulated knowledge and experiences to the venture creation process, needs to be well considered as an important aspect in the entrepreneurial learning literature (Cope, 2005). Anticipatory socialization a similar concept as entrepreneurial preparedness suggests that the collective of prior experience and learning prepares the entrepreneur for their career (Dyer, 1994; Starr and Fondas, 1992), and shape their beliefs, attitudes and abilities (Starr and Fondas, 1992). Cope (2001) argues that preparing for an entrepreneurial career is an implicit and explicit process with personal and interactive dimensions. In those processes learning and development occurs throughout the entrepreneur’s life rather than this is concentrated immediate in the prestart-up phase (Cope, 2001). The ways entrepreneurs perceive new situations and learn from these experiences during the entrepreneurial process is linked to prestart-up learning and the product of an entrepreneur’s evolving learning history (Boud et al., 2013; Mezirow, 1991). The learning history defines a unique level of learned skills and accumulated knowledge that the entrepreneur brings to start-up (Harvey and Evans, 1995, Cope, 2005). The entrepreneur needs to look outward and forward – recognizing opportunities in their environment that confronts them and understanding the entrepreneur’s preparedness for the venture creation process (Cope, 2005). Thus, proactive behavior is an important factor during the entrepreneur’s learning process. Entrepreneurs are not able to fully prepare themselves for the entrepreneurial process ahead due the rise of new difficulties and challenges (Cope, 2005). The gap between the entrepreneur’s learning history and the skills and knowledge necessary during entrepreneurial process defines the entrepreneurs learning task once the venture is created (Cope, 2005).
Since each entrepreneur’s learning history is complex and divers, a unique range of experiences, skills and abilities shape the entrepreneur’s learning task once their venture is established (Cope, 2005). During the venture process, the past, present and future all have an impact on defining the learning task where factors like the environment, nature of the business, employees and ambition play an important role (Cope, 2005). Entrepreneurs need to update and accumulate their subjective stock of knowledge based on past experiences (Minniti and Bygrave, 2001). Hence, entrepreneurs develop and grow in potentially more capable business owners (Rae and
Carswell, 2000). However, a deeper understanding of the content and process of the entrepreneur’s learning task still needs to be developed since there is a lack of sufficiently broad-based frameworks that illustrate the diversity of the learning task with any adequacy (Cope and Watts, 2000). The content of learning is in many cases context-specific and therefore it is hard to develop a deeper general gasp of the content dimension (Cope and Watts, 2000). A preliminary study of Sexton et al. (1997) about the learning needs of growth-oriented
entrepreneurs made a start in this domain They state that entrepreneurs should learn about: oneself, small business management, their business, environment and entrepreneurial networks and managing their relationships (Sexton et al., 1997). Next to the content of entrepreneurial learning, a better understanding of the process of learning is necessary that stimulates learning the content. Examples already given about the process of entrepreneurial learning are learning by doing (Cope and Watts, 2000; Smilor, 1997) and critical learning events (Cope and Watts, 2000; Deakins et al., 2000; Taylor and Thorpe, 2000). However, more research is necessary about the process of learning, especially research that answers the question why some entrepreneurs and not others engage in those learning events with persistence.
2.2.3 Entrepreneurial learning as a competency
A rather new view on entrepreneurial learning is studying the construct under a competency framework. Man (2006) emphasizes on the importance of developing entrepreneurial skills and knowledge through learning, however he simultaneously argues that learning is a competence on its own. There is more to entrepreneurial learning then the awareness of learning
opportunities, a willingness to learn or an accumulation of experience, skills and knowledge (Man, 2006). In his study, he identified several behavioral patterns for successful learning. A competent entrepreneur should learn selectively, purposely and continuously, learn in depth and must actively seek for learning opportunities (Man, 2006). These suggestions are in line with prior studies identifying behaviors related to entrepreneurial learning (Cope and Watts, 2000; Rae and Carswell, 2000; Honig, 2001). Studying entrepreneurial learning behavior from a different angle is a step in the right direction for understanding how entrepreneurs learn. Despite the literature about entrepreneurial learning behavior is growing, the construct it is still poorly understood (Cope, 2005). The mechanisms behind the occurrence of specific learning behavior is mainly unanswered (Man, 2006).
2.4 Conceptual framework
It is suggested that passion play a significant role in entrepreneurial behavior and sets an
entrepreneur into action i.e. exploiting opportunities leading to entrepreneurial action. Since this study explores how entrepreneurs experience passion, the distinction will be made between harmonious and obsessive passion in this context. Furthermore, the entrepreneurs’ learning history is suggested to be a determining factor for the entrepreneur’s preparedness for the venture process and a definite factor for shaping the learning task. After start-up the entrepreneur must engage in sustained entrepreneurial learning to overcome challenges and difficulties during the venture process. This results in the following conceptual model.
2.4.2 Definitions derived from the literature
Passion – An intrinsic force that motivates an individual to engage continuously in an activity
as a response to the pleasurable feelings an individual gets during the activity.
Learning history – All the skills and competencies an entrepreneur developed before start-up
based on accumulated knowledge and past experiences.
Learning tasks – All the skills and competencies an entrepreneur still needs to develop after
start-up to overcome future challenges and difficulties.
Sustained entrepreneurial learning – The entrepreneurs’ ability to engage in continuous
entrepreneurial learning to overcome future challenges and difficulties
Passion Harmonious /
Obsessive
Learning History Learning Task
Sustained Entrepreneurial
3. Methodology
Based on the conceptual framework, this chapter will describe the research method used for the data collection and analysis. For this research, an inductive approach with the use of key aspects of case study methodology (Huberman et al. 2002; Yin 2009; Saunders, 2011) was adopted to explore the relationships between the entrepreneur’s passion (harmonious or obsessive) and entrepreneurial learning behavior. Because the relationships between these constructs were not well known, propositions were not provided. However, by exploring the relationships between passion and entrepreneurial learning behavior, this research tended to build a foundation for the development of new propositions or testable hypotheses for future research (Eisenhardt, 1989).
Since this study is exploring a new construct with the aim to give new insights, a qualitative approach was adopted. A qualitative approach is regularly used for theory building with the focus on novel research ideas (Eisenhardt and Graebner, 2007; Merriam, 1998). Furthermore, this approach provides in rich details about the phenomenon which is necessary for building new insights about passion and entrepreneurial learning behavior (Miles and Huberman, 1994; Siggelkow, 2007; Yin, 2009). Regarding to the research questions in this study, rich details are useful for answering the “how” and “why” questions were qualitative data is recognized for (Eisenhardt, 1989; Miles and Huberman, 1994; Yin, 2009) Additionally, a qualitative approach gives the benefits of contextual embeddedness which is important when studying a specific phenomenon within a local population (Morse et al., 1994; Miles and Huberman, 1994). Since passion and entrepreneurial learning behavior operate within an individual, this study focusses on the reflection of “lived experience” of the entrepreneur (Miles and Huberman, 1994).
Since the relationships between passion and entrepreneurial learning behavior are not well known and the individual constructs are complex on its own, a case study including in-depth interviews was adopted. By using this research method, the possibility exists that other constructs emerge during the explanatory process (Huberman and Miles, 2002; Yin 2009). Moreover, the use of open-ended questions during in-depth interviews provide in rich
information and gives the opportunity to capture emotions, thoughts, assumptions and beliefs of the lived experience of the entrepreneur.
3.1 Sample
To find reliable insights about the relationships between passion and entrepreneurial learning behavior, selecting appropriate cases is essential to prevent the results from being misleading (Seawright and Gerring, 2008). With a small sample size, random sampling is not necessary nor preferable for case studies (Eisenhardt, 1989; Seawright and Gerring, 2008). Purposive
sampling was used to identify entrepreneurs to participate in this study. To explain more typical cases, the data obtained from purposive selected cases is likely to be relevant (Patton, 2002). In total 10 interviews were conducted. The heterogeneous sample consisted of 5 founding
entrepreneurs and 5 key referents. The characteristics of the entrepreneurs are presented below (table 3.1). Moreover, the sample consisted of entrepreneurs which owned a business in a variety of markets in the Netherlands and their business was based on different types of origin such as core skills and an identified gap in the market. The purpose of this method was to gather a variety of stories and perspectives and find extreme cases to get a better understanding about the phenomenon.
Table 3.1
Characteristics of the entrepreneurs
E1 E2 E3 E4 E5
Gender Male Male Male Male Male
Type of business
Educational services
E-commerce Food &
beverages
IT Services Food &
beverages
Origin of business
Core skills Filled identified
gap in market
Core skills Core skills Filled identified
gap in market Number of Employees 6 fulltime + contractors 2 2 5 6 Ownership 100% 50% Majority 100% 50%
Referent Family member
& colleague
Family member Family member
& former colleague
Informal friend & Business partner
Life partner & Business partner
For the purpose of this study the following criteria were used to define an entrepreneur: • The entrepreneur found an opportunity that he or she identified and acted upon; • This resulted in a for-profit business;
The entrepreneurs for this study were identified in two ways. First, the researchers network was used to identify potential entrepreneurs based on personal recommendations. Second, the ‘Dutch Startup Database’ was searched to find potential entrepreneurs. From a compiled list of suitable entrepreneurs, appropriate cases were selected based on the criteria mentioned above and the availability of a key referent.
3.2 Data collection
A series of face-to-face interviews were conducted with both the entrepreneurs and key referents to explore the nature of the entrepreneur’s passion and the relationship with their entrepreneurial learning behavior. The interviews with the entrepreneurs lasted 50-60 minutes. Additionally, the interviews with the key referents were used to triangulate the information of the entrepreneurs which lasted 30 minutes. The interviews were semi-structured and consisted of open-ended questions since this is considered as optimal for exploratory studies (Saunders, 2011). Using open-ended questions gives the opportunity to collect rich details that might capture the different perspectives of the entrepreneurs (Eisenhardt 1989; Marshall and Rossman 2014). The referent’s interview questions were a subset of the questions used for the discussion with the entrepreneurs. To make the questions more applicable for the referents only a small rephrase was used that shifted the focus from the individual to the entrepreneur in question. The interview protocol for both the entrepreneur and the referent can be found in Appendix 1 and 2. The following topics were explored trough the questions:
• Personal description of the entrepreneur; • How and why they started their business;
• Definition of passion and how it came into their life and business; • Work-life balance and time investment in the business;
• Critical moments post or prior start-up; • The role of passion during critical moments; • Lessons learned;
• The perception of challenges and difficulties in the future; • The role of passion on the entrepreneur’s future perspective; • Definition of business success.
To make the entrepreneur and referent feel comfortable, both of them was given the opportunity to select an appropriate place and time for themselves to conduct the interviews. Additionally, during the approach of the all the interviewees and again before the interviews, a brief
introduction about the topic and the procedure was given. In all cases, both entrepreneurs and referents, they received at least 2 days prior the interview the interview questions. The
predetermined interview protocol was used for all the interviews, so the topics derived from the literature review were all covered (Saunders, 2011). Additionally, semi-structured interviews gave the flexibility to ask to follow up questions in case the entrepreneur or referent pointed out an interesting topic. The interviewees were encouraged to expand their experience as needed to get a full understanding of their perception by the interviewer. During the data collection process, the series of interviews served as a learning process. Additional questions were added based on touted knowledge from previous interviews. With the agreement of the interviewees the interviews were audio recorded for analyzing purposes.
3.3 Data analysis
To develop the case study database the researcher withdrawn rich data from the recorded interviews. The interview transcripts were manually transcribed and reviewed iteratively during the data analysis process. Subsequently, a thematic analysis was performed with the use of a hybrid approach of inductive and deductive coding (Fereday and Muir-Cochrane, 2006). Thematic analysis is an “analytical procedure centered on coding and theme development” (Lyons and Rohleder, 2014, p. 96). Thematic analysis is theoretically-flexible and suits among other things questions related to understanding and representation. In case of this study, a thematic analysis was useful to explore the constructs of passion and learning behavior in an entrepreneurial context. By comparing and contrasting the codes and the data they contained in the analysis, similarities and differences could be found to get a better understanding of both the constructs. Furthermore, in line with the research question, this approach is useful to examine the data for patterns in an attempt to suggest linkages between the two constructs.
All the interview transcripts were thematically coded based on passages that reflected essential constructs form the literature. The analysis of the transcripts was performed with help of Atlas TI software, a special designed software program for data analysis purposes. The researcher started with highlighting essential parts that recurred in each interview to get an understanding of the similarities between the interviews and get a gasp of the bigger story. Subsequently, the researcher highlighted parts of the transcripts that gave rich information related to the research question. After getting a better understanding of the data as a result of those steps, the
researcher generated codes based on this first analysis and the main literature findings. In the literature, this approach is also known as open coding. During the next step codes were assigned to the important components in the highlighted parts in the interviews (Saunders,
2011). With the use of coding, the researcher was able to generate generic terms for similar text constructs in the transcripts to help the researcher discover relationships and build theory. Then the transcripts were reanalyzed on recurring or emerging themes across the interviews which the early codes did not capture. New codes based on emerging themes or constructs were added to the list of codes. After the coding process was finished similar codes were merged if necessarily followed by allocating related codes to several categories. This method is known as axial coding (Saunders, 2011) which provided the researcher with a structured overview of comparable findings from each of the cases. With the use of the structured overview the researcher was able to draw the first findings. Subsequently, the researcher used the structured overview to lay connections between the different categories to uncover relationships between parts in the data. Those last two steps together made the researcher capable of drawing the findings in the next section.
4. Results
This chapter describes and provides examples of the gathered data based on the interviews with the entrepreneurs and referents. The data informs the conceptual framework and provides new insights about passion and learning behavior in entrepreneurship. All the aspects of the conceptual framework will be covered. The presentation of the findings in this chapter are structured in two sections. First, the findings about how entrepreneurs experience passion will be covered. The second section covers the entrepreneurs’ learning behavior and how passion relates to this construct.
4.1 Passion
This section covers the findings about the nature of the entrepreneur’s passion. The findings are related to the entrepreneur’s description of passion, work-life balance, intrusive thoughts and obsession.
Both the entrepreneurs and referents described passion variously. The entrepreneurs and referents spoke about passion in terms of getting a distinct feeling from doing something a person loves and enjoys, it originates from intrinsic instead of extrinsic beliefs, and enables individuals to take action. All entrepreneurs described themselves as a passionate person and having an entrepreneurial passion for their business. In all cases the referents described the entrepreneurs likewise. Although the entrepreneurs’ passions differ, they all described that their passion originates from somewhere inside themselves, i.e. an intrinsic force based on elements such as beliefs, purpose, mastery and autonomy. As one entrepreneur stated:
‘They say that [my product] is the most complex product in the world… There are lots of factors influencing the end product so it’s impossible to control everything for 100%. But I really like to control the whole process as much as possible… and eventually make the best product’
The entrepreneurs described they experienced passion as something psychological and associated passion with positive feelings and emotions such as pleasure and satisfaction when they engage in their venture activities. It makes the activities they undertake feel effortless. As one entrepreneur stated:
‘I’m doing this [my passion] not because I have to but because I love and enjoy it. If I wake up in the morning and I think of working on [my passion], at that moment I do not have the feeling
that I have to work that day… I think that is the difference of having a passion or not, you really love something and you do not mind putting effort in it at all.’
The results based on similar statements of other entrepreneurs suggest that the entrepreneurs do not view the daily activities they undertake for their venture as something that is work or a task. The presence of passion makes the engagement in venture related activities feel pleasurable and seem to change their perspective on difficult moments and unenjoyable activities. The
entrepreneurs described that in response to those feelings they get energized and motivated to continuously engage in their venture activities even during drawbacks. An example that reflects these findings is when an entrepreneur described a critical moment were the entrepreneur knew the venture was going to make losses in the next two years due an incident and stated:
‘In this moment, I think passion played an important role. If making money was the only incentive for me to engage in the venture’s activities, I would have shut down the business… If you know you are going to make losses in the next two years everyone would quit from an economical perspective.’
Thus, the results indicate that passion plays an important role in the entrepreneur’s capacity to engage in continuous entrepreneurial action even at times the entrepreneur faces challenges and difficulties during the venture process.
4.1.1 Work-life balance
The interviewed entrepreneurs reported about the balance between the time spent on their business and personal lives. Over time, all of the entrepreneurs described they actively sought for a healthy work-life balance. However, the results indicate that their perspectives on the content of a healthy work-life balance changed during the venture process. Throughout the early stages of the venture process, all entrepreneurs described they spent a lot of time on their ventures. Three of the five entrepreneurs reported they spent seven days a week both day and night. During the venture process this time decreased for two entrepreneurs to 40-50 hours a week and the third entrepreneur mentioned that those hours increased as a response to the growing business. The fourth entrepreneur spent five days a week both day and night during the start and decreased this time later on to 60 hours a week. The last entrepreneur reported
spending 50-60 hours a week at the beginning and decreased this time to 40-50 hours a week. In sum, the majority of the entrepreneurs spent a lot of time on their ventures during the early
stages of the venture process. Afterwards this time decreased for all the entrepreneurs, for some more than others, when their business progressed.
Moreover, the entrepreneurs described two main reasons for the decrease in time spent on their ventures. First, due various reasons the entrepreneur’s perception of a healthy work-life balance changed at a certain point during the venture process. The entrepreneurs described that during the early stages they were vastly involved in their ventures as a response to their enthusiasm and willingness to make their business grow. Three of the five entrepreneurs described a turning point where they realized that there is more to life than their business such as time for friends, family and hobbies. Additionally, the entrepreneurs mentioned that they felt that working such a high number of hours was unsustainable for themselves in sense of their physical and mental health in the long term. Furthermore, for some of the entrepreneurs their time spent on their venture conflicted with other parts in their lives during the early stages of the venture process. As one entrepreneur stated:
‘At a certain point, it did cost me the relationship with my girlfriend… Although I find my work very enjoyable… since the relationship was over I started to realize that there is more to life than putting all my time in work.’
Similar statements suggest that critical incidents changed for the majority of the entrepreneurs their perspectives on a healthy work-life balance. The second reason the entrepreneurs gave for the decrease in time spent on their ventures was the capability to delegate work. Three of the five entrepreneurs described that they hired employees at a certain point during the venture process as a respond to the growing business. In this way, the entrepreneurs were capable of delegating tasks and able to take more time off to spent on their personal lives.
Although the majority of the entrepreneurs invested a lot of time in their ventures and felt the necessity to change their work-life balance later on, in all cases the entrepreneurs had no regrets of their time invested. All the five entrepreneurs described they had to give up other things along the way such as buying a house, hobbies and time with friends and family. However, in all cases the entrepreneurs did not experience this as sacrifices. On the contrary, they
experienced it in a positive way. The entrepreneurs described that they felt they pursued the things they enjoyed the most at that time and had different priorities compared to others. As one entrepreneur stated:
‘I have not thought one second about how hard it is to give other things up, I still do not… You need to make choices… I just really like what I’m doing now’
Despite the significant number of hours spent on the ventures by the entrepreneurs, which in some cases conflicted with other parts in their lives, none of the entrepreneurs experienced their time investment as something as negative. The results indicate that the entrepreneurs experience a high level of enjoyment from what they are doing and take the consequences for granted. Thus, more findings indicate that passion plays an important role in the entrepreneur’s capacity to engage in continuous entrepreneurial action and indirectly influences their perspectives on their work-life balance and the consequences. Although the majority of the entrepreneurs experienced critical incidents, which did not feel pleasurable at the time, none of the
entrepreneurs had regrets for the decisions they made that led to those critical incidents. On the contrary, in most cases the critical incidents changed their perspectives on their work life balance and the entrepreneurs rather experienced those moments as an important learning opportunity based on the new insights they got from these incidents. Thus, next to the role passion plays in helping the entrepreneur handling with those critical incidents, the results suggest that those critical incidents seem to be an important learning mechanism for entrepreneurs.
Furthermore, the findings indicate that next to the high number of hours spent on the venture by the entrepreneurs during the early stages of the venture process, the venture still occupied a part of the entrepreneurs’ minds when they were away from work. The entrepreneurs were asked if they could take distance from their work if they were not engaging in venture activities. The majority of the entrepreneurs described they had difficulties not to think about their venture during their personal time. For example, two entrepreneurs in particular mentioned they felt the need to check their email constantly when they were at home. They felt the necessity to respond to their email directly even during the night. However, the entrepreneurs did not report
experiencing extreme anxiety or stress. Therefore, the data indicates that none of the entrepreneurs experienced negative feelings attached to an obsession but some of the
entrepreneurs may have experienced intrusive thoughts about their ventures during that time. Moreover, the data suggest that the entrepreneurs were capable of dealing with those thoughts over time. Three of the five entrepreneurs mentioned that they had to learn not to think about their ventures during their personal time. In two cases the entrepreneurs described that due to trust and confidence in their employees which did build up over time, it became easier to let go their thoughts about their venture in their personal time.
Taken together, the results suggest that passion could influence the entrepreneur’s perspective on a healthy work-life balance. During the early stages of the venture process the majority of the entrepreneurs had a high tolerance for spending an excessive number of hours in their business, experienced intrusive thoughts and in some cases their time investment conflicted with other parts in their lives. Although the entrepreneurs did experience positive feelings such as pleasure and satisfaction rather than anxiety or stress, all these three findings are components of
obsessive behavior. With the lack of the entrepreneurs demonstrating other components of obsession it was difficult to determine if some of the entrepreneurs developed an obsession. However, putting harmonious and obsessive passion on a scale, the results indicate that some of the entrepreneurs developed a tendency towards an obsession during the early stages of the venture process. Additionally, the results indicate that in some cases the entrepreneurs’ behavior changed after experiencing a moment that had a significant impact on them. After experiencing a critical moment, the entrepreneurs realized something had to change and they learned to cope with the situation and changed their behavior. Hence, the following pattern seem to emerge from the data.
Figure 4.1
Passion seem to act as a motivating force for the entrepreneurs to take action, although it could simultaneously change perspectives on a healthy time investment in venture activities. As a result, the entrepreneurs could progressively increase their engagement in venture activities and possibly develop obsessive behavior leading to an obsession. Additionally, since the result indicate that the entrepreneurs do not experience their time investment in their venture as something negative, they might not realize they are developing obsessive behavior till the moment a critical incident occurs leading to a change of their perspectives. The critical incident acts as an important learning event for the entrepreneurs to see their behavior from another perspective and learn to make adjustments to their behavior.
Critical Incident Passion Obsessiveness -Obsessiveness + Passion
