Unraveling the Black Box of New Venture Team Processes

Abstract

This chapter argues that new venture team (NVT) processes are relatively ill-understood in the entrepreneurship literature, and describes various theoretical and empirical research avenues that may be pursued in order to improve our understanding of these processes. It then focuses on the widely established input-processes-outcome (IPO) framework. This framework has long been used within the field of organizational behavior as it seeks to understand group performance and other group-level outcomes as the consequence of the inputs and processes that precede them. Building upon the foundations of Entrepreneurial Theorizing, the chapter argues how and when specific theories such as faultline theory, creativity and imagination, and organizational and team justice may be instructive in studying NVT processes at the prefounding phase, and particularly the (self)-selection of individuals into (out of) the NVT through social interaction. Faultlines hold great potential for understanding NVT processes both in the prefounding and postfounding phases.