The Influence of Founder Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Identity Networks on Founder Identity Evolution

Founder identity, defined as the set of internalized meanings defining who one is or what one does as a founder, is central to our understanding of why and how individuals create new ventures. Despite the wide attention garnered by entrepreneurial identities, existing research is unclear concerning the processes by which founders manage their multiple identities, as well as how their identities are collectively influenced or co-constructed through interactions with others. Entrepreneurs are embedded in spatial, temporal, and social-cognitive contexts, which each have the potential to shape identity. Thus, it is important to understand not only how individuals make sense of their identities, but also how they are collectively influenced or co-constructed through interactions with others. To explore these gaps in our understanding of founder identity this dissertation investigates the intrapsychic process by which identities are discovered and negotiated within the early stages of entrepreneurship as well as the socially constructed process through which “identity influencers” impact the evolution of a founder’s identities. Exploring the intrapsychic process by which identities are constructed and managed and the way in which identities are socially constructed has the potential to advance theory related to identity construction, the management of multiple identities through interidentity work, and the role of entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs) in supporting identity work. I leverage two essays, each drawing on a longitudinal investigation of a 20-week accelerator program in the US. I first explore how accelerators act as environmental containers facilitating founder identity development and identity work. I then investigate how interactions between founders’ multiple identities change and are managed over time throughout the startup process, shedding light on the process by which founders navigate interidentity work.