Cohering with the Crowd: How Audiences Shape the Quasi-Scientific Process of Entrepreneurship
Important aspects of entrepreneurship can be usefully understood as a quasi-scientific process in which entrepreneurs develop theories of value and test those theories through experimentation. Unlike academic scientists, however, entrepreneurs often develop and test theories in collaboration with an...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Published: |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2022
|
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/145056 https://orcid.org/ 0000-0002-5305-6070 |
| _version_ | 1811068368279568384 |
|---|---|
| author | Friis, Simon C.A.T. |
| author2 | Zuckerman Sivan, Ezra W. |
| author_facet | Zuckerman Sivan, Ezra W. Friis, Simon C.A.T. |
| author_sort | Friis, Simon C.A.T. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Important aspects of entrepreneurship can be usefully understood as a quasi-scientific process in which entrepreneurs develop theories of value and test those theories through experimentation. Unlike academic scientists, however, entrepreneurs often develop and test theories in collaboration with an audience. The impact of audiences on the quasi-scientific process is brought into sharp relief on the livestreaming platform Twitch.tv, where entrepreneurs compete in a cultural market for the scarce attention of viewers.
The first essay examines how theories of value constrain strategic choice and valuation. I ask: why are some combinations of product categories more appealing to audiences than others? A prominent line of work, drawing on prototype theory, posits a universal penalty for category-spanning offerings. I clarify the limitations of this approach, focusing in particular on its inability to explain change. I introduce theoretical coherence (the extent to which a combination of product categories coheres with a theory of value) as an alternative standard for understanding the appeal of categorical combinations. I develop and validate an empirical framework that uses word embedding models to study theoretical coherence and find that theoretical coherence is able to explain the appeal of product-category combinations not easily addressed by prototype theory.
The second essay examines why successful experimentation requires the effective collaboration of audiences and how this in turn limits the strategic opportunities of entrepreneurs. Experimentation is traditionally thought to improve entrepreneurial outcomes because it avoids costly commitment and allows entrepreneurs to pivot to more attractive product markets. I develop and test a theory that recognizes the costs experiments impose on audiences. My theory implies that successful experimentation involves a tradeoff between two types of commitment. On the one hand, an entrepreneur can invest in developing a better prototype, thereby increasing the audience’s willingness to test the prototype. On the other hand, an entrepreneur can focus on developing their relationship with their audience, thereby increasing the audience’s tolerance for crude prototypes. I find that Twitch streamers who invest more in developing relationships with their audience experience fewer penalties from experimentation but get trapped in less attractive product markets. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T07:54:59Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/145056 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T07:54:59Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1450562022-08-30T04:09:48Z Cohering with the Crowd: How Audiences Shape the Quasi-Scientific Process of Entrepreneurship Friis, Simon C.A.T. Zuckerman Sivan, Ezra W. Sloan School of Management Important aspects of entrepreneurship can be usefully understood as a quasi-scientific process in which entrepreneurs develop theories of value and test those theories through experimentation. Unlike academic scientists, however, entrepreneurs often develop and test theories in collaboration with an audience. The impact of audiences on the quasi-scientific process is brought into sharp relief on the livestreaming platform Twitch.tv, where entrepreneurs compete in a cultural market for the scarce attention of viewers. The first essay examines how theories of value constrain strategic choice and valuation. I ask: why are some combinations of product categories more appealing to audiences than others? A prominent line of work, drawing on prototype theory, posits a universal penalty for category-spanning offerings. I clarify the limitations of this approach, focusing in particular on its inability to explain change. I introduce theoretical coherence (the extent to which a combination of product categories coheres with a theory of value) as an alternative standard for understanding the appeal of categorical combinations. I develop and validate an empirical framework that uses word embedding models to study theoretical coherence and find that theoretical coherence is able to explain the appeal of product-category combinations not easily addressed by prototype theory. The second essay examines why successful experimentation requires the effective collaboration of audiences and how this in turn limits the strategic opportunities of entrepreneurs. Experimentation is traditionally thought to improve entrepreneurial outcomes because it avoids costly commitment and allows entrepreneurs to pivot to more attractive product markets. I develop and test a theory that recognizes the costs experiments impose on audiences. My theory implies that successful experimentation involves a tradeoff between two types of commitment. On the one hand, an entrepreneur can invest in developing a better prototype, thereby increasing the audience’s willingness to test the prototype. On the other hand, an entrepreneur can focus on developing their relationship with their audience, thereby increasing the audience’s tolerance for crude prototypes. I find that Twitch streamers who invest more in developing relationships with their audience experience fewer penalties from experimentation but get trapped in less attractive product markets. Ph.D. 2022-08-29T16:30:00Z 2022-08-29T16:30:00Z 2022-05 2022-08-23T19:16:47.111Z Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/145056 https://orcid.org/ 0000-0002-5305-6070 In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted Copyright MIT http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/ application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Friis, Simon C.A.T. Cohering with the Crowd: How Audiences Shape the Quasi-Scientific Process of Entrepreneurship |
| title | Cohering with the Crowd: How Audiences Shape the Quasi-Scientific Process of Entrepreneurship |
| title_full | Cohering with the Crowd: How Audiences Shape the Quasi-Scientific Process of Entrepreneurship |
| title_fullStr | Cohering with the Crowd: How Audiences Shape the Quasi-Scientific Process of Entrepreneurship |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cohering with the Crowd: How Audiences Shape the Quasi-Scientific Process of Entrepreneurship |
| title_short | Cohering with the Crowd: How Audiences Shape the Quasi-Scientific Process of Entrepreneurship |
| title_sort | cohering with the crowd how audiences shape the quasi scientific process of entrepreneurship |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/145056 https://orcid.org/ 0000-0002-5305-6070 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT friissimoncat coheringwiththecrowdhowaudiencesshapethequasiscientificprocessofentrepreneurship |