Narratives help entrepreneurs and potential venture supporters to make sense of new ventures and to frame entrepreneurial journeys. Despite current understanding of how narratives shape entrepreneurial outcomes, however, there is limited guidance about how entrepreneurs might craft their own narratives in practice. In this article, we identify six types of entrepreneurial narratives-(1) an identity narrative, (2) an opportunity narrative, (3) a projective narrative, (4) a failure narrative, (5) a pivot narrative, and (6) a resourcefulness narrative-and we detail practical storytelling strategies entrepreneurs can use to shape each of these narrative types. We then propose that entrepreneurs can combine, sequence, and revise these narratives as the entrepreneurial journey unfolds. Knowledge of how to strategically manage the full entrepreneurial narrative repertoire enables entrepreneurs to create meaning and value where there once was none and to capture that value over time as a venture grows.

Success as an entrepreneur requires boldness, creativity, and action in the face of uncertain opportunities and idiosyncratic setbacks. Our recent research elevated and defined the concept of entrepreneurial hustle: an entrepreneur's urgent, unorthodox actions intended to be useful in addressing immediate challenges and opportunities under conditions of uncertainty. We argue this foundational construct is useful for explaining how successful entrepreneurs behave. Early scholarly research on entrepreneurial hustle has generated meaningful theoretical insights into the concept. In this article, we extend those insights into practical prescriptions for entrepreneurs, corporative innovators, and innovative changemakers, identifying what they might do and how they might use the hustle concept to effectively manage uncertain and ambiguous business scenarios. Furthermore, we examine the potential downsides of hustle and provide practical steps that can be taken to mitigate such risks.

Is there a model of the ideal business school instructor? I asked myself this question many times when first teaching in a business school classroom. Assessing the style and approach of other effective instructors signaled that there are many models for success in the classroom, but how should I think about developing my own successful teaching style and approach? To address this challenge, I developed the concept of the personalized teaching signature, which accounts for teaching as a complex, multidimensional activity that includes preparation, practicality, rigor, entertainment, empathy, experiential engagement, enthusiasm, novelty, and surprise. I argue that an instructor should strive to exceed an expected threshold of proficiency in each teaching dimension and then focus on specific dimensions in which they can excel to develop a personalized teaching signature. In this article, I describe the concept of a personalized teaching signature, outline its basic dimensions, and offer a step-by-step process for using this signature to become a better business school instructor.

This case study examines the initiation, financing, development, and failed merger of an ambitious online grocery retail venture: HomeGrocer.com. It highlights the risks and challenges associated with developing a revolutionary venture. Even though the HomeGrocer.com team did many things right developmentally, some key errors and unfortunate timing resulted in them expanding too quickly and running low on cash. It also forced them to make a tough strategic decision about whether to scale back operations and renege on their IPO commitments or merge with a well-funded competitor, Webvan. The case discusses lessons that can be learned from business failure.

The founder and CEO of a mountain bike race in South Africa wonders how to build on the world-class event that he and his team have created. Although the event is popular and continues to grow in prestige, the business’s dependence on a single event creates both a threat and an opportunity. The threat is that the business would be in serious jeopardy if something were to go wrong with the event. The opportunity is that the event can be a launch pad for additional events or for other business concepts. Although the team has experimented with some ideas, they have not hit on anything that they want to pursue on an ongoing basis. The founder and CEO is therefore looking for the concept or idea that will provide the business with its next injection of growth. Learnings from the case may be applied to any event-based creative industries business, such as music festivals, exhibitions, fairs or film festivals.

The founder and CEO of a mountain bike race in South Africa wonders how to build on the world-class event that he and his team have created. Although the event is popular and continues to grow in prestige, the business's dependence on a single event creates both a threat and an opportunity. The threat is that the business would be in serious jeopardy if something were to go wrong with the event. The opportunity is that the event can be a launch pad for additional events or for other business concepts. Although the team has experimented with some ideas, they have not hit on anything that they want to pursue on an ongoing basis. The founder and CEO is therefore looking for the concept or idea that will provide the business with its next injection of growth. Learnings from the case may be applied to any event-based creative industries business, such as music festivals, exhibitions, fairs or film festivals.