Designing Entrepreneurs: Exploring the Potential of Design in Developing Entrepreneurial Expertise

Abstract

As a response to the discrepancies between entrepreneurial theory and practice, scholars have begun treating entrepreneurship as a form of design. This thesis explores the connections between entrepreneurial and designerly practice. We interview five founders of emerging ventures about their experiences creating these. We find that the entrepreneurs pursue broad aspirations rather than predetermined goals and suggest that these aspirations take the form of passions. Furthermore, the entrepreneurs express sentiments of ‘acting first’ and make sense of the qualities of these actions as contingencies arise. Finally, our findings suggest that the founders see many potentially valid approaches to their creation process and that they learn ‘their approach’ over time. Based on our findings we discuss practical implications for entrepreneurs and startup incubators by drawing on practice-based design theories.