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Building on ecological economics and the firm growth literature, I propose a model of real growth through entrepreneurial resourcefulness to determine whether an isolated firm can grow if it can capture only the value it creates. I then use Andy Weir's bestseller The Martian to illustrate my arguments. The model contributes to the entrepreneurial resourcefulness literature by explaining how, and under which conditions, resourceful behavior can lead to real firm growth, positing that entrepreneurs can create ecosystems that enhance the marginal productivity of resources by leveraging the productive capacity and entropy-mitigating properties of human capital and natural capital. The model also contributes to the sustainable and innovative entrepreneurship literatures by recognizing limitations on the substitutability of resources, noting that even highly efficient allocation of resources cannot immunize actors from scarcity if production consumes critical capital or exceeds the rate of resource renewal. Finally, the model contributes to the entrepreneurial action literature by shedding light on our understanding of profit opportunities, noting that entrepreneurs are neither exclusively "world makers" nor "world takers," but akin to chefs using new production recipes to maximize the ingredients available. Such experimentation emphasizes that entrepreneurship is a process of resource transformation, not just customer discovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the positives and negatives of philosophy in management research with a response from the original authors, Ramoglou and McMullen, to commentaries on their 2024 article “What is an opportunity?: From theoretical mystification to everyday understanding.” Their response includes a defense of their anti-metaphysical perspective in entrepreneurship theory.

Expressions about opportunities are used unproblematically in everyday contexts. Yet, the question "What is an opportunity?" has posed a difficult riddle in the academic study of entrepreneurship. Drawing on the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein, we explain that such perplexities are common when words are removed from ordinary language and intellectuals try to grasp what they name. Approaching the opportunity riddle differently, we ask, "How do entrepreneurs use the word 'opportunity?'" and elucidate an actualization theory of entrepreneurship attuned to the everyday understandings that underlie the meaningful use of the word. Bringing implicit understandings to the foreground contributes to (a) dissolving the mystification over the nature of "opportunity"; (b) clarifying the conceptual foundations of entrepreneurship theory; and (c) reorienting the field toward more conceptually precise ways of thinking about Knightian uncertainty, entrepreneurial success, and the entrepreneurial process. This paper also contributes to the methodology of management studies by demonstrating how attention to the logic of ordinary language can alert us to theoretical dead-ends and enable the development of theory that bridges academic and everyday understandings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family business and human resource management scholars suggest that firms whose leaders experience affective commitment are more likely to achieve their goals. Building on self-determination theory, we propose a model [...]

While the literature on entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) continues to grow and mature, limited empirical research examines how entrepreneurial ecosystems emerge and who leads these (often complicated and contested) efforts. Through a qualitative case study covering a twenty-year period, this paper details how a new entrepreneurial support organization, "Catalyst," was able to both legitimize a nascent entrepreneurial ecosystem in "Venture City" and establish itself as the lead organization of that ecosystem. Our analysis highlights two forms of legitimacy work in which Catalyst engaged, along with how these forms can be targeted at different aspects of the ecosystem and different audiences over time. In doing so, we make three contributions at the nexus of entrepreneurial ecosystems, (network) governance, and legitimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]