Properties of opportunity creation and discovery: Comparing variation in contexts of innovativeness

The context in which entrepreneurs operate and the innovative nature of the new venture are major factors in entrepreneurial performance and success. Here, we explore the nature of entrepreneurial opportunities and their innovativeness in the context of the discovery–creation debate about the emergence of opportunities. We empirically capture the relevance of these two perspectives ad hoc by linking the assumptions of the formation process to specific properties of entrepreneurial actions under different environmental contexts of innovativeness. The results indicate that the environmental context entrepreneurs operate in can vary based on certain constraints. Additionally, we found that within specific contexts of discovery or creation, the process of opportunity emergence varies. Specifically, we find that search activities and formal funding are utilized more in a discovery context whereas entrepreneurial experience is more relevant in a creation context.