Abstract
This research explores how entrepreneurs deploy defense mechanisms when facing the potential misappropriation of their own resources by established corporate partner “sharks.” The prior literature has examined legal and timing defenses, along with social defenses that utilize the network structure of investment relationships with power imbalances between young firms and large corporations. By conducting qualitative analysis based on 41 semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs' firms, broader and more detailed defense strategies were identified, including seven (invisible) defense mechanisms, such as “control of competitive state,” “resolution of information asymmetry,” “capability of idea execution,” and “choice of composition,” which were not immediately identifiable as defense mechanisms.
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