Slow your role: A developmental conceptualization of entrepreneurship mentoring

Author: Christopher Hayter (Georgia Institute of Technology)

Abstract: Defined as a developmentally-oriented relationship between a more experienced, knowledgeable person and a protégé, mentoring has long been recognized as a crucial element of entrepreneurial development and success. However, whilst recent research highlights the role of mentors in venture accelerators and incubators, scholars have generally overlooked mentoring dynamics within the earliest stages of founder identity construction. This study therefore explores the emergence and evolution of purposeful interactions between early-career scientists and entrepreneurship mentors embedded within heterogenous programmatic and institutional contexts within Germany and the U.S. Based on our findings, we present a conceptual model that explicates how protégés together with their mentors co-construct an entrepreneurial identity. Specifically, we show that although protégés can enter into mentoring relationships from one of three distinct dyadic pathways, that self-conception as a founder depends on the cognitive and emotional readiness of protégés, as well as the extent to which the mentoring relationship enables recursive integration of other constituent conceptual elements. Implications for research and policy are also discussed.     

Host: Anne Tryba