Venture after venture: cultivating serial entrepreneurial drive

Abstract

Given the significant economic impact of new businesses, serial entrepreneurs are a force to be reckoned with, creating numerous enterprises in succession and continually implementing new ideas that boost economic prosperity. Yet, it is unclear what drives them individually. Correspondingly, the purpose of this research is to determine how the prospect of known entrepreneurial motivational drivers affects the urge of serial entrepreneurs to launch business after business, while also trying to identify previously unrecognized motivational drivers. The theoretical framework introduces the traits of recognized entrepreneurial motivations, and the constellation of the individual and their surroundings are explained using the combination of two prominent theoretical notions. An abductive research approach was used in conjunction with a qualitative strategy to perform the investigation of the research question. The data was acquired with semi-constructed interviews corresponding to a cross-sectional study design, involving serial entrepreneurs across Europe. To develop the analysis of the data, a grounded theory approach was used. The empirical findings showcase how serial entrepreneurship impacts the individual, the apparent aspects that are involved in subsequent venture creation, and their purposes. With the help of the analysis, the conclusions are established: existing motivational traits were confirmed and their strengths assessed in the context of serial entrepreneurship, and previously unidentified drivers such as versatility, curiosity, excitement, personal development, interpersonal relationships, restlessness, change, and making an impact are elaborated. Finally, the results are used to propose future research opportunities.