Start-Ups and Spin-Offs: Collective Entrepreneurship Between Invention and Innovation

In this paper we argue that specific institutional and behavioral disjunctures in the process of technology development may systematically impede the flow of financial and other resources to even the most promising nascent technology ventures. Our particular focus is on the role of technology entrepreneurs in managing early stage technology development (ESTD) projects - the transition from invention to innovation. We introduce the term collective entrepreneurship to describe the trust- and reputation based process by which entrepreneurs work collaboratively to overcome informational and contracting challenges inherent in ESTD. We then examine in some detail two paradigmatic contexts in which collective entrepreneurship occurs: university-based start-ups and corporate spin-offs.