The Blank School engages Babson community members and leads research to create entrepreneurial leaders.
Grid The Entrepreneur

Felix Kaysers
Emlyon Business School, FranceResearch Translation Paper (pdf) »
Summary: In large parts of the developing world, entrepreneurs must secure their livelihood despite the regular occurrence of terror attacks. Through an analysis of Egyptian entrepreneurs, we provide evidence of the effect of terror attacks on entrepreneurs’ choice of entrepreneurship as a permanent occupation. We explain how entrepreneurs’ knowledge, skills and abilities sustain them to keep dreaming about a better future and explore how differences in knowledge, skills and abilities imbued through religion, trade union affiliation and firm size.

Kanwal Bokhari
Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary, CanadaResearch Translation Paper (pdf) »
Summary: How can an entrepreneur effectively communicate the potential of their venture to early-stage investors, such as venture capitalists (VCs)? Previous research suggests that entrepreneurs use multiple signals to send "messages" about their venture's yet-to-be-proven quality or potential for success. My research indicates that it is less about the sheer quantity of signals and more about how signals can provide information related to different dimensions or factors of quality that matter to VCs. These dimensions include the product, the market, the third-party alliances, and the entrepreneurial team.

Shu Deng
The University of Texas, Dallas, USAResearch Translation Paper (pdf) »
Summary: A major patent reform (the AIA of 2011) exacerbated patent racing. How should managers and entrepreneurs take strategical actions to navigate the post AIA era.

Vitaliy Skorodziyevskiy
Mississippi State University, USAResearch Translation Paper (pdf) »
Summary: Property rights of firms are believed to exist and quite often are taken-for-granted. Notable, the internal and external environment of family firms contribute to how well property rights can be captured.

Carmen Baur
Technical University of Munich, GermanyResearch Translation Paper (pdf) »
Summary: Start-up teams happen to get a lot of contradictory feedback. In our research, we show that start-up teams differ in how they deal with contradictory feedback, which influences their decision-making and opportunity development.

Mauricio Mercado
Iowa State University, USAResearch Translation Paper (pdf) »
Summary: Although underrepresented minority groups are responsible for most of the new business creation in the United States, they fail at a higher rate than their non-minority counterparts. To further explore this paradox, it is essential to study the entrepreneurial team development process; in such process, being racially similar is beneficial for new venture creation but detrimental to new venture growth.

Catharina Jecklin
Bond University, AustraliaResearch Translation Paper (pdf) »
Summary: Leaders and entrepreneurs around the world are aware of the necessity to innovate and offer their employees the freedom to explore ideas. But, is freedom enough to innovate? Innovative behavior can trigger feelings of vulnerability and requires trust - and here is how you build trust.

Peter Nahm
Texas A&M University, USAResearch Translation Paper (pdf) »
Summary: Nonprofit research institutes exist to achieve their social mission benefiting society at large by solving pressing scientific and technological problems through scientific research and technological innovation. My research uncovers the unique ways through which these organizations advance science and technology.

Jarrod Humphrey
University of Florida, USAResearch Translation Paper (pdf) »
Summary: The universe of entrepreneurial activity is as large as it is diverse. When starting a business, or even launching a side-gig, it is vital that you know where you fit in this universe so you choose the right strategy for your unique entrepreneurial context.

Jeanne Roche
IE Business School, SpainResearch Translation Paper (pdf) »
Summary: Ford, Estee Lauder, Hyatt. What do these names have in common? For starters, they are behind some of the largest family firms in the world. But not only. They are also associated with a revolution in finance and are at the head of a new set of practices: investing for return and impact. But why are prominent business families engaging on this path? And what are the behavioral mechanisms leading to it? In our research, we find that individuals in business families use impact investing to build their own identity by either building on, reshaping, or deconstructing their family’s legacy.