Tech Entrepreneurs Research Articles

Framing the Schemata: Western Media Coverage of African Technological Innovations

This study examines the framing of African technological innovations in Western media over the past two decades (2003–2023), focusing on four case studies: M-Pesa, LifeBank, FarmDrive, and NigeriaSat-1. Using a qualitative research design that integrates content analysis and framing theory, we analyze how major media outlets, including the BBC, CNN, The Guardian, Reuters, and The New York Times, represent African innovations. The analysis reveals that media coverage tends to frame these innovations primarily through a humanitarian lens, emphasizing their role in addressing poverty, healthcare, and food security challenges. While highlighting the social impact of these technologies, this narrative often overlooks their broader potential for global scalability and industry disruption. To complement the content analysis, we conducted 24 semi-structured interviews with tech entrepreneurs, media professionals, and scholars from Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal, investigating their perspectives on how Western media coverage impacts investment and collaboration in African technological sectors. The interview findings confirm that such media portrayals hinder international investment and partnership opportunities by reinforcing the narrative that African technologies are primarily crisis management tools, rather than innovative solutions with global market potential. This article argues for a shift in this narrative, recommending policies that include strategic media advocacy, enhanced public relations, and increased investment in Research and Development.

Hydrosocial imaginaries of green extractivism: Water-energy transitions and geothermal lithium development at the Salton Sea in Imperial Valley, California

Lithium is considered an “energy transition mineral” for mitigating climate change because it is a key component of batteries for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage. Even though it is framed as green, lithium mining has significant impacts on communities and ecosystems, especially in relation to water. This research takes a hydrosocial approach to examine the benefits and burdens of a proposed alternative method to avoid the harmful impacts of conventional lithium mining from brine evaporation or open-pit mining, by pairing geothermal energy production with direct lithium extraction (DLE) in the Salton Sea region of California. Government and industry proponents have framed this novel technology as an environmentally superior process, and boosters seek to transform the southeast edge of the Salton Sea in Imperial Valley into "Lithium Valley." We examine the emergence of green extractivism in Imperial Valley through three hydrosocial imaginaries: (1) reclamation; (2) restoration; and (3) recovery. Reclamation offers a lens through which to critically analyze the foundation of the Salton Sea, which is deeply rooted in colonialism, dispossession and industrialization. Restoration encompasses the environmental and public health impacts that a receding sea level and agro-industrial waste streams have on the region. Finally, geothermal lithium development has been framed by tech entrepreneurs, energy firms and resource managers as a process of “recovery” that would deliver community benefits and cleaner energy, while evading negative connotations of mineral “extraction.” Drawing from collaborative research and action for environmental justice, this study contributes to community engagement on the proposed Lithium Valley development.

Cloud Countries and Exit Geographies

In recent years, digital technology companies and Silicon Valley technologists have pursued virtual “start-ups” or “cloud countries.” For their promoters, these new digital realms are designed to provide an offramp, known as an exit, from mainstream forms of governance, democracy, and finance. These territories will be located online or within the blockchain. In this paper I first examine the politics of this development by placing it into the larger context of alt-right and neoreactionary (NRx) thinking. In the second part, I examine the specific digital geographies of one set of projects known as “network states,” a project of the tech entrepreneur and Bitcoin maximalist, Balaji Srinivasan. For this I draw on work that situates how digital geographies of exit “render” value for the “growth machine” under conditions of rentier capitalism. Taken together, it is now clear that tech entrepreneurs are no longer content to use digital exit geographies just to provide economic returns, but to acquire political power and influence. In the Conclusion, I discuss how analysis of exit geographies can contribute to digital political economies improving theorizations of exit, and highlights how network states depend on a growth machine model.

Ergos: redefining storage infrastructure and market access for small farmers in India

Learning outcomes After completion of the case study, students will be able to analyse the path of the entrepreneurship from idea generation to market development to scaling up business, examine the impact of start-ups like Ergos on India’s agriculture value chain, discuss the challenges faced by tech entrepreneurs in growing a business, identify problems solved by Grain Bank Model and evaluate digitisation of farming’s custodial services such as warehousing, market linkages and loans. Case overview/synopsis The case study discusses how founders of Ergos, India-based leading digital AgriTech start-up, Kishor Kumar Jha and Praveen Kumar, started one of the unique models in the AgriTech landscape in India. After noticing the grim condition of small and marginal farmers in Bihar, India. Kishor and Praveen decided to put their banking and corporate experience to use in the farming sector. Ergos aimed to empower farmers by providing them with a choice on when, how much quantity, and at what price they should sell their farm produce, thus maximising their income. As a result, Ergos launched the grain bank model, which provided farmers with doorstep access of end-to-end post-harvest supply chain solutions by leveraging a robust technology platform to ensure seamless service delivery. Ergos faced many challenges in its journey related to financing, marketing and distribution. Amidst these developments, it remained to be seen how Kishor and Praveen would be able to realise their goal to serve over two million farmers across India by 2025 and create a sustainable income for them through its GrainBank Platform. Complexity academic level This case study was written for use in teaching graduate and postgraduate management courses in entrepreneurship and business strategy. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 3: Entrepreneurship

From adversity to advancement: uncovering how race and class shape Black tech entrepreneurial experiences

Abstract Black people in the technology industry face various barriers, from encountering micro-aggressions from their coworkers to facing blocked advancement in their professional careers. These challenges are particularly pronounced in entrepreneurship, where Black founders receive just one percent of all venture capital funding. But amidst these shared struggles, questions arise as to what ways, if any, these experiences vary. Using an intersectional lens to inductively study forty-six Black tech entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, I reveal how class shapes Black entrepreneurial processes differently at various phases of entrepreneurship. Lower- and middle-class Black entrepreneurs faced more financial and network-based obstacles as they struggled to raise money from family and friends and had fewer effective networks when starting their businesses. Conversely, Black upper-class entrepreneurs had familial wealth and personal networks that aided their entrepreneurial efforts but faced challenges as they were not a “racial fit” within the industry. Consequently, they perceived that they confronted more instances of individual-level discrimination. Black lower and middle-class entrepreneurs were less likely to discuss instances of perceived individual-level discrimination because many had not reached the step of meeting with an investor. This research offers unique and nuanced insights into how class shapes the entrepreneurial pursuits of Black founders. Contributions to the sociology of race and ethnicity, intersectionality, and the sociology of entrepreneurship are also discussed.

Ecosystems of Opportunity: Experiences of Black Tech Entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and Atlanta

Ecosystems of Opportunity: Experiences of Black Tech Entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and Atlanta

“Naughty Japanese Babe:” An analysis of racialized sex tech designs

Recent technological developments and growing acceptance of sex tech has brought increased scholarly attention to sex tech entrepreneurs, personified sex tech devices and applications, and the adult industry. Drawing on qualitative case studies of a sex doll brothel named “Cybrothel” and the virtual entertainer, or “V-Tuber,” known as Projekt Melody, as well as quantitative sex doll advertisement data, this study examines the racialization of personified sex technologies. Bringing attention to the racialization of personified sex tech is long overdue, as much scholarship to date has focused on how sex tech reproduces specific gendered meanings, despite decades of intersectional feminist scholarship demonstrating that gendered and racialized meanings are mutually constituted. General trends in the industry are shown, but particular emphasis is placed on the overrepresentation of Asianized femininity among personified sex tech industries.

“Salute the strivers”: China’s Internet giant founders and the discursive construction of overwork

Scholarly inquiry into labor issues in the digital industry has primarily centered on workers, with less attention devoted to employers, or entrepreneurs. Turning the scrutiny toward tech entrepreneurs, this article reports the results from a critical discourse analysis of how China’s Internet giant founders are participating in the construction of a long-hours culture through discourse practices. It uncovers that the default assumptions related to tech work, tech workers, and tech firms are carefully designed, taught, and cultivated by tech founders to sustain the exploitative and unsustainable mode of technical production. Situated at the historical juncture of China’s “great reversal” since late 2020, this research examines the dynamic and uneven triangular relationship among the state, entrepreneurs, and workers in technical production. It enriches the analysis of entrepreneurial discourse in the digital industry beyond the Euro-American context and reflects on entrepreneurs’ ambivalent power in late-developing nations.

Masculinity in Scandinavian tech entrepreneurship: male technology entrepreneurs negotiating gender (in)equality

PurposeBoth entrepreneurship and technology are significantly gendered, and when combined in technology entrepreneurship, they make up a fundamentally masculine field. This article investigates men tech entrepreneurs' negotiations of gender and gender (in)equality. The purpose is to gain knowledge on masculinity in tech entrepreneurship and to explore what role this might play in any change towards more gender-equal entrepreneurship.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews were conducted with ten Swedish and Norwegian male tech entrepreneurs in tech incubators. The interviews dealt with gender (in)equality and masculinity in tech entrepreneurship. The data were coded in NVivo and inductively analysed using thematic analysis. We apply a social constructivist understanding of gender.FindingsWe categorise the male entrepreneurs' views of gender equality along “privileged”, “paradoxical” and “potential” articulations of gender (in)equality. Building on these articulations, we discuss the potential entrepreneurial men and masculinities could have for changing gender inequality in the Scandinavian tech entrepreneurship context. The findings are applicable to several entrepreneurial contexts.Originality/valueThe study contributes to further the theoretical understanding of tech entrepreneurship as a gendered phenomenon, its dynamics and its potential for change, particularly in promoting gender equality in tech entrepreneurship. Empirically, it investigates the perceptions about gender (in)equality and gender as negotiated concepts amongst male tech entrepreneurs.

Affect and adaptation in entrepreneurial goal pursuit

An entrepreneur’s motivation to set and strive towards their business goals is an integral part of the venturing process. Research has indicated that positive affect enhances motivation, specifically in terms of the level of effort devoted to achieving a goal. However, motivation is also reflected in the strategy or tactics used to attain goals. Interestingly, scholars know substantially less about this aspect of motivation, even though it may be equally important. In this article, we examine how affect shapes an entrepreneur’s propensity to change their strategy when encountering a challenge in the venturing process. Our longitudinal study of 166 tech entrepreneurs reveals that both positive and negative affect have a significant role to play in motivational processes, particularly during challenging times. The study has practical implications for how entrepreneurs manage their feelings when facing challenges and theoretical implications for how scholars apply affective theories in entrepreneurship.

Re-Centering Race in Emancipatory Entrepreneurship: Black Female Tech Founders, Money, and Meaning in a Detroit-Based Incubator Program

This study is an anthropological inquiry into the perceptions and attitudes of Black female tech entrepreneurs towards capitalism in the context of an incubator program in Detroit, USA. Drawing upon ethnographic data from the STEM Entrepreneurial Excellence Program (STEEP), the study reveals the intricate relationships that Black female founders maintain with money and capitalism. These complexities manifest in moral quandaries related to fundraising and distrust in outsourcing financial management, emanating from a long-standing scepticism towards capitalism and intertwined with historical traumas. The research emphasizes the significance of comprehending minority entrepreneurs’ historical inequalities and lived experiences with capitalism to discern their diverse attitudes and performances in entrepreneurship – an aspect frequently neglected in entrepreneurship scholarship. By examining the intersection of race, gender, and entrepreneurship, the essay contributes valuable insights into the nuanced dynamics shaping entrepreneurial experiences of Black women in the technology sector.

Deepfake Satire and the Possibilities of Synthetic Media

This article explores the rise of deepfake satire as one of the most vibrant subgenres of experimentation within the expanding field of AI art. A combination of “deep learning” and the word “fake,” deepfake videos depict people doing or saying things that they never did or said. While deepfakes have been used to deceive and harm individuals as well as a mass audience, they have also been used toward alternative ends. Deepfake satire offers artful social critique, interrogating the individuals and institutions it portrays as much as the technology used to create it and the platforms on which it circulates. Videos range from snarky jabs at entertainment industry personalities to hard-hitting takedowns of tech entrepreneurs and authoritarian leaders. This speculative form of social imagining makes threatening and seemingly untouchable figures appear weak, vulnerable, and exposed, which can help envision a more equitable and just future. Close examination of specific projects within a broader media ecology leads to a nuanced understanding of both the menace and progressive possibilities of synthetic media—beyond simple “utopia”/“dystopia” binaries—in addition to expanding the grammar of computational art.

Middle-class responses to climate change: An analysis of the ecological habitus of tech workers

The question of how the digital economy responds to ecological issues has gained salience in recent years. So far, though, social scientists have primarily taken interest in the ecological positionings of tech entrepreneurs. Little attention has been paid to the middle-class fraction of ‘tech workers’ who are responsible for programming, designing, and managing the digital technologies that reconfigure socio-material relations. Based on 52 interviews with data scientists and user experience designers, the article analyzes the ecological habitus of this new professional segment. Four central ecological schemas are identified: (1) managing limited resources, (2) critical techno-optimism, (3) academic concern, and (4) lifestyle struggles. Simultaneously, the article discusses how these four schemas relate to the different forms of capital held by tech workers. This mapping of the ecological habitus of tech workers shows how social relationships with nature are underpinned by class positions. The article thus pursues dual aims, contributing to research on green capitalism as well as to debates on how the middle class relates to climate change.

Getting Inside: Class and Racialized Disadvantage Among Black Tech Entrepreneurs

Getting Inside: Class and Racialized Disadvantage Among Black Tech Entrepreneurs

Closing the Product Utility Gap: How Tech Entrepreneurs Imagine Unknown Client Markets

What drives the entrepreneurial imagination of unknown client markets? Based on a multi-case study of tech entrepreneurs operating out of Boston, this study examines this under-researched question. Findings suggest that tech entrepreneurs imagine unknown client markets in increasingly sophisticated ways, starting from envisioning primary users of the product, to considering multiple parallel client populations, to imagining interdependent client groups using the product in complementary ways. This evolution in thinking seems to be driven by product utility gaps - perceived gaps between the range of product uses and client constellations in which the product can create value. Importantly, at an early stage of the entrepreneurial process, these product utility gaps do not result from market feedback, but from ongoing reciprocal imagination of client markets and underutilized product value. Findings inform research on entrepreneurial imagination and opportunity idea formation, and the strategizing of business ecosystem relationships.

The role of time management of female tech entrepreneurs in practice: Diary and interview results from an innovative cluster

This paper focuses on what female tech entrepreneurs who grow their business in innovative clusters are doing in practice. Based on longitudinal data on female entrepreneurs who develop their innovative venture in the cluster of San Diego, and based on an Entrepreneurship as Practice (EAP) theoretical lens, we reveal what innovative entrepreneurs are doing in practice. We show that despite their call for freedom in terms of organization, they are adopting somewhat classical working practices, adapting their working life to the daily routines of their stakeholders. Beyond a huge investment into seeking new clients and project management, these women are spending a significant amount of time on family responsibilities. Results are discussed regarding the role of the innovative ecosystems on these working practices. The contribution relies on the study of practices while innovating and while being a woman and on the use of calendars as a data collection method.

Sex tech entrepreneurs: Governing intimate data in start-up culture

Sextech is currently experiencing a golden age, promising technological innovation to improve sexual health and well-being. However, the privacy and security vulnerabilities of smart sex toys have been the subject of media attention. Dating apps, menstrual trackers and sex toy companies have paid millions in compensation for non-consensually collecting or sharing intimate data. In this article, we share findings from a research workshop with prospective sextech industry professionals about how they approach data governance. The conversations reveal disconnections between the emancipatory, collective and rights-based possibilities offered by feminist and queer tech cultures, broader public interest in data commons and the technosolutionist narratives of start-up cultures. We conclude that there is a need for collaborations between industry, community and researchers to develop approaches to governance that reorganise, redistribute and decentralise the data economy of sex tech.

Impact of technology on the success of tech based social entrepreneurs in Bengaluru city

Purpose - Through a comprehensive analysis of relevant literature, this study will examine the most significant factors—such as technology, skills, personality, and motivation—that impact the success of Social tech entrepreneurs Design/ Methodology/ Approach - With the growth of the local economy, Bangalore has seen a boom in tech-social entrepreneurship, which has recently become the most relevant topic in management studies. This article explored a few tech-related social entrepreneurs and used the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process to gauge their effectiveness (FAHP). The survey covers Bangalore-based tech-social entrepreneurs. 7 social tech entrepreneurs were chosen for the study. Findings - The findings of the study revealed that for successful social tech entrepreneurship, tech business environment, and Tech personality traits are essential and significant. Using their inventive mindset, technological expertise, commitment to change, and self-efficacy for innovation are all important factors in the success of tech social entrepreneurs. Personal qualities came in at number two, suggesting that a social tech entrepreneur’s outlook is influenced by his or her exposure to new technologies and ways of thinking. Originality Value - As the knowledge-based economy and information technology continue to develop and evolve, tech entrepreneurs are better equipped to learn and apply a wide range of technical abilities to a variety of contexts. This is mostly a result of their aptitude for handling and conquering a variety of technological advancements, creating discoveries and inventions, persuading people, and leading them. The traits of an entrepreneur have a big impact on how successful they are as an entrepreneur. The entrepreneur’s personality, leadership, managerial competence, communication skills, and external circumstances are critical in turning the business into a successful one, even if these factors are essential to developing effective companies. External aspects such as favorable conditions (i.e., the potentiality of markets and technological sophistication, etc.), high-caliber of entrepreneur/ entrepreneurial teams, and promotion policies to encourage social entrepreneurship are the factors that promote early business growth. The significance of each of the attributes contributing to social tech entrepreneurship is explored on an original basis using the FAHP technique.

Engaging with the Failures of Racial Empathy

AbstractIn the face of media attention that has recently spotlighted police brutality, racialized COVID-19 deaths, and the renewed visibility of white-supremacy groups, scholars, tech entrepreneurs, and media pundits are calling for an increase in empathy, claiming that it may move white and non-Black people of color beyond feelings of pity to dismantling anti-Black racism. However, in the context of anti-Blackness, is racial empathy possible? And what can we expect from it? Examining philosophical critiques of empathy's capabilities by philosophers and scholars engaged in feminist philosophy and Black studies, alongside Heidi Maibom's four-part definition of empathy, I focus on what empathy's limitations might tell us about the emotional and material structures that prevent empathy from achieving the results its advocates often hope for. I argue that the feelings of racial empathy, which may activate in empathy-inducing activities, may instead paradoxically point to the very anti-Black psychological structures that prevent empathetic action. I also contend that the feelings of racial empathy do not themselves undo the relations of anti-Blackness, but tracing the racism implicit in their activation may serve as a self-reflexive tool, an ongoing process, for understanding how anti-Blackness has shaped one's sense of self, embodied awareness, and lifeworld.

A phenomenological exploration of technology start-up failure in Sri Lanka

PURPOSE: The main purpose of this qualitative study was to explore tech start-up failures in Sri Lanka to emerge themes that explain the critical factors that are impacting failures of Sri Lankan tech start-ups and also to identify recommendations that could help evade those factors. The paper also presents the finding to enrich tech entrepreneurs to build their strategies with an understanding of factors that leads to failure and to make well-educated decisions. METHODOLOGY: The study is based on a qualitative research approach that helps to present findings in a theoretical way. A phenomenological analysis has been used to identify, understand, and analyze the phenomena of tech start-up failures. Twelve start-up leaders participated in this study and shared their lived experiences of tech start-up failures in Sri Lanka. Interviews were conducted with them based on twelve interview questions and twelve core themes emerged based on the participants’ lived experiences. In analyzing data, the modified Van Kaam approach was used, utilizing a seven-step framework that considers the structural and textual aspects of experiences, as well as the perceptual characteristics of the phenomenon. FINDINGS: The themes answered the key research question of the study: What are the critical factors that are impacting on failures of tech start-ups in Sri Lanka? The cause of tech start-up failures according to the current study varied including, financial uncertainty, no market research, no product–market fit, paranoid behaviors of innovators, lack of timely response to changing conditions, and location of the venture. IMPLICATIONS: The paper concisely presents twelve critical reasons for tech start-up failures. The results of the research will enable Sri Lankan tech start-ups to identify key factors of failure for the growth of their surviving strategies. Identifying secret obstacles in the industry helps entrepreneurs prepare for pitfalls and provides guidelines for policymakers to make informed choices when implementing national policies. More importantly, it has been discovered that the major areas that require more attention are leadership, funding, marketing, and innovation. Finally, four groups of recommendations have been discussed under financing, market research, leadership, and inventors. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: The comparison of the current study themes with the findings of related studies is inconclusive because the literature on tech start-up failures in other countries and in Sri Lanka is minimal. Some of the themes align with the findings of research conducted in other countries, although there were some themes that were explored uniquely.