Learning to Pivot: Founder Identity and Communities in Sustainable Start-up Accelerators

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ABSTRACT

There is growing interest in start-up accelerator programs as learning environments for sustainable entrepreneurs. However, we lack adequate understanding of the decision to pivot during pre-seed programs while founders are most susceptible to external influences. The accelerator literature underscored organizational learning (Cohen, 2013) and the pivot literature emphasized validated learning, influenced by the lean startup methodology (Ries, 2011).

Through a qualitative study examining why and how entrepreneurs pivot in accelerator programs, I found that situated learning (Lave, 1991), a community-based learning process, is a more proximal mechanism of pivots within accelerator programs. I also found that variations in the ecological-commercial founder identity led to different pivoting behaviors than those predicted by prior adaptation literature. This paper contributes to the entrepreneurial learning and entrepreneurial support organizations literature streams. This research helps practitioners, policy makers and educators in supporting sustainable entrepreneurs to solve grand challenges, such as environmental degradation.

BIOGRAPHY

Ash Ganzoury (he/him) is a PhD Candidate in the Strategy and Entrepreneurship department at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU). His research is at the intersection of entrepreneurial support organizations, and sustainable and academic entrepreneurship. Ash advises founders and academics in start-up accelerator programs in North America and Europe. During his time at CU, Ash was elected the Graduate Student-Body president where he worked across communities on university shared-governance projects. He teaches entrepreneurship and strategy courses at the Leeds School of Business. Ash also serves as the self-leadership chapter head at the University of Geneva’s Executive MBA alumni association. Prior to joining CU, Ash had more than a decade of practical experience in management, business development and serial entrepreneurship on three continents. He has a BSc in architecture engineering and an MBA in aviation management. His personal interests include skiing, water sports, squash, cooking, reading, and exploring nature and culture.