Resourcefulness Narratives: Entrepreneurial Storytelling to Get More for Less

Abstract

Entrepreneurs often confront resource constraints as they attempt to bring their ideas to fruition. To overcome these constraints, they may attempt to make clever use of the resources under their control and seek resources and support from others. One tool entrepreneurs can use to garner support from others is storytelling, yet prior research has not specified what kinds of stories really matter when entrepreneurs mobilize resources. We theorize that a particular type of story will have a significant impact on an entrepreneur’s ability to garner support. Drawing from the literature on resourcefulness, cultural entrepreneurship, and organizational narratives, we develop a conceptual process model centered around the concept of a resourcefulness narrative, which is a story about specific instances of resourceful action by an entrepreneur that is told and retold to potential venture stakeholders. We argue that a resourcefulness narrative generates both an emotional and cognitive reaction among venture stakeholders that draws them in to want to support an entrepreneur. By acting resourcefully and transforming that action into a story, entrepreneurs are able to attract substantially more resources and support for their ventures that they otherwise would.