Discovery and Exploitation of Entrepreneurial Opportunities: A Case Study of a Danish SaaS Company

Abstract

Entrepreneurship has been recognized as one of the most relevant driving forces for economic growth. However, the lack of a conceptual framework defining the field of research around entrepreneurship has hampered the growth of structured and useful investigations. Venkataraman (1997) and, later,Shane and Venkataraman (2000), have tried to bring some clarity in the field proposing a more complex and inclusive definition of entrepreneurship involving the discovery and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities. Taking the lead from these considerations, this paper aims at understanding which motivational and cognitive factors that the entrepreneur possesses can effectively influence entrepreneurial actions, opportunity discovery and opportunity exploitation. The research is built around a qualitative case study on a Danish SaaS start-up, Clerk.io. The main findings of the study suggest that while the entrepreneur’s motivational factors are significant for entrepreneurial actions and opportunity evaluation, the entrepreneur’s cognitive factors are crucial for the discovery and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities.