social relations and the performance of different start-up types

There is significant and growing interest in entrepreneurship. Notwithstanding this interest, sizable barriers limit understanding of the phenomenon and, by implication, understanding of who is most likely to succeed in it. One fundamental challenge researchers face is the confounded language employed: “Self-employment,” “business ownership,” and various conceptualizations of “entrepreneurship” have often been used interchangeably. This chapter argues that a potentially fruitful basis for predicting the probable form and performance of various start-ups (or newly established business entities) is offered by attending to the social relational characteristics of the individuals or teams engaged in them, including their advisers and investors. Using this approach, novel propositions are proposed that draw and define boundary conditions.