The Opaque-Side of Entrepreneurship: Some Founders Trade Substances for Entrepreneurship Addiction

Abstract

We examine substance addiction as a primary antecedent in the development of entrepreneurship addiction, which is the compulsive need to engage in entrepreneurship. We draw on psychological addiction literature to expand examining entrepreneurship addiction through the lens of behavioural addictions, such as gaming or internet use, to focus on theories of behavioural and substance addictions alike. Through the use of a mixed-method approach, we team both epidemiological data from more than 48,833 founders from 2005-2014, with qualitative case study data from four founders with a history of addiction. We demonstrate how founders with a history of any addiction are more likely to become serial entrepreneurs, and consequently entrepreneurship addicts, and how the cycle of entrepreneurship addiction plays out for founders with concomitant addictions. We found some founders trade-up more socially undesirable addictions for the socially acceptable addiction of entrepreneurship, evidencing perhaps a more opaque side of entrepreneurship.