Entrepreneurs-as-Scientists and entrepreneurial team formation strategies: A randomized control trial experiment

This paper investigates whether a causal, theory-driven decision framework, such as the Entrepreneurs-as-Scientists (E-a-S) framework, influences how entrepreneurs reconfigure their entrepreneurial teams. We conducted a randomized controlled trial on 132 early-stage startups that participated in a pre-incubation program. During the pre-incubation program, we randomly assigned the early-stage startups to either a treatment group, which learned how to apply the E-a-S framework to make decisions, or a control group, which learned the same tools and skills as the treatment group, but without the E-a-S framework. For startups in both groups, we tracked the composition of the initial entrepreneurial team and its subsequent reconfigurations over 64 weeks. Employing a question-driven approach, we investigated whether E-a-S entrepreneurial teams evolved differently from those in the control group. Our analysis reveals that the entrepreneurs who learned the E-a-S framework composed their entrepreneurial teams differently from the other entrepreneurs: entrepreneurs who learned an E-a-S framework were more likely to use a resource-seeking strategy to compose their teams than those in the control group. Specifically, E-a-S entrepreneurs decreased the proportion of team members with technical backgrounds, while selectively adding individuals with managerial and industry-specific experience. These findings demonstrate that E-a-S not only shapes venture pivots and terminations but also influences the formation of entrepreneurial teams. The implications of the results are discussed for research, entrepreneurs, and investors.