Who Am I, Where Am I? The Influence of Founder Identity in Coworking Spaces

Abstract

Coworking spaces enable collaboration, creativity, and knowledge exchange among entrepreneurs, as well as offer opportunities to develop social and professional networks. Our study of 317 entrepreneurs across 57 coworking spaces demonstrates that an innovation-based narrative of the workspace predicts new venture progress for entrepreneurs embedded within the space. Using structural equation modeling, we show that the relationship between innovativeness and venture progress is moderated by founder identity. Similarly, the relationship between founder identity and venture progress is mediated by a sense of community within the coworking space. In this paper, we contribute to the founder identity literature by proposing that it is the reciprocal relationship between the context of the coworking space and the identity of founders embedded within that is critical for venture growth and performance.