Darwinians, Communitarians, and Missionaries: The Role of Founder Identity in Entrepreneurship

Based on the theory of social identity, we explore the identities, behaviors and actions of 49 company founders in the equipment industry related to sports. The analysis suggests the existence of three pure forms of founding identities and shows how these identities systematically form key decisions in the creation of new companies, thereby "imprinting" start-ups with the distinct ideas of the founders themselves. We synthesize our findings in a typology that sheds light on the heterogeneous meanings founders associate with the creation of new firms and enhances understanding of why fundamental differences exist in firm creation processes and results