The Functions of the Proto-entrepreneur in Building up Startup Innovation Capabilities

Abstract

Objective: this paper aims to deepen the current understanding of the concept of the ‘proto-entrepreneur’ while explaining how this agent works in the process of building up startup innovation capabilities. Methods: we argue that behind new ventures (such as startups) there may be no Schumpeterian entrepreneurs as the traditional literature defines it, but instead what we call proto-entrepreneurs. Results: entrepreneurs are agents capable of, in discontinuous intervals, changing the status quo of already established firms, and even society. Proto-entrepreneurs aspire to do so in startups, but they still lack the knowledge and the necessary set of capabilities to make such changes. Therefore, the conversion of a proto-entrepreneur into an entrepreneur, in the Schumpeterian sense of the term, depends on a process of knowledge accumulation for building the missing innovation capabilities, without which extraordinary profits cannot be reached. This process usually happens in startups — here taken as the primary locus of the proto-entrepreneurial action —, and the proto-entrepreneurs should undertake a sequence of activities for building such capabilities. Conclusions: in such conditions, the proto-entrepreneur should seek knowledge and capabilities, to develop a minimum valuable product, find an initial marketplace, establish scalable operations, and constitute enough management competence.