Arrested Development: Organizational and Entrepreneurial Sensemaking in a Maker Space

Abstract

Entrepreneurial sensemaking – the process by which entrepreneurs determine and refine both the nature of their offering and the model through which they will distribute that offering – is difficult. To facilitate the process, entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs), like incubators and accelerators, have emerged all over the world. Yet, entrepreneurial success stories emanating from ESOs have been conspicuously few. In a two-year-long inductive, grounded theory study of a maker space – the latest iteration of ESO, focused on shared access to tools, collaboration, and the development of technical capabilities, we identify three orientations entrepreneurs use to relate to maker spaces. Two of these are reinforced by the maker space, while the third is not. Concerning the latter, the unexpected mismatch between individuals enacting this orientation and those reinforced by the maker space encumbers entrepreneurial sensemaking, eliciting doubt within them as to whether they can succeed as entrepreneurs and/or whether their ventures can succeed in the market. This leads to a cycle of self-defeat and withdrawal. However, the two orientations that are reinforced by the maker space are no guarantee of success either. In these cases, ventures become dependent on the maker space through the cost advantages its resources provide, creating a cycle of entrenchment that makes it difficult – if not impossible – for the business to ever leave the maker space. Ultimately, our study contributes to theory development on both entrepreneurial action and sensemaking, while informing the phenomenon-based literature on maker spaces and offering a process- based explanation for the few entrepreneurial success stories coming out of ESOs.