SIM research seminar by Daniel Kruse

The SIM Section invites you to a SIM research seminar where Daniel Kruse from Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, Germany, will present the following research project:

Beyond Luck: Serendipity and Learning from Contingency in Founder Narratives

Abstract
This talk presents a pilot study on serendipity in founder narratives and what it reveals about entrepreneurial learning from contingency. Using a balanced set of founder interviews (social-entrepreneurial vs. commercial cases), the analysis traces how founders narrate unexpected events and how these contingencies are translated into coordinated action through patterned meaning-making. I report preliminary cross-case patterns and discuss what they imply for theorizing serendipity beyond “luck” accounts - especially under conditions of constraint and contested stakeholder interpretations. The talk also reflects on key methodological choices and inferential limits that arise when analyzing retrospective founder narratives and invites discussion of how such evidence can be made transparent and robust in entrepreneurship research.

Everyone is welcome!