Entrepreneurial teams: An input-process-outcome framework

Abstract

Entrepreneurship research emphasizes the importance of the individual entrepreneur in both venture creation and growth. However, theory and practice suggest that the vast majority of new ventures are now team-based, and teams play a key role in venture success. As the scholarly interest in this topic has substantially grown in the recent years, the literature has flourished in a rather fragmented way. In this paper, we take a holistic view and systematise more than 250 papers on entrepreneurial teams, published over 30 years. We use a process approach (i.e., Input-Process-Outcome), depicting team evolution phases, from inception to maturity, linking them to firm performance. We identify gaps, highlighting opportunities for future research.