Visionary, Engineer, and Experimenter: Three Forms of Entrepreneurship in the Quest for Product-Market Fit
Journal
Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal
ISSN-Digital
1932-443X
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2026-04-06
Author(s)
Abstract
Entrepreneurship unfolds under uncertainty, which complicates entrepreneurs’ efforts to align idea, action, and environment to reach product-market fit. To illuminate how entrepreneurs perform such alignment, we complement the theory-based view and its focus on cognitive uncertainty with a discussion of behavioral uncertainty. We propose that entrepreneurs face four types of uncertainty: (1) uncertainty about the state of their environment (state uncertainty), (2) uncertainty about the interpretation of environmental cues (perception uncertainty), (3) uncertainty about the feasibility of turning an idea into a tangible product (execution uncertainty), and (4) uncertainty about the effect of their action in the environment (effect uncertainty). To mitigate these forms of uncertainty, entrepreneurs engage in idea-environment (entrepreneurs as visionaries), idea-action (entrepreneurs as engineers), and action-environment (entrepreneurs as experimenters) alignment. Each of these alignment strategies is associated with benefits and constraints in mitigating the uncertainty discussed. Our paper thus generates new insights into the nature of uncertainty and its effective mitigation in the quest for product-market fit, a critical precursor of success in entrepreneurship.
Language
English (United States)
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Pages
37
Subject(s)
Division(s)
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Name
Zellweger_Djokovic_2026_Visionary engineer and experimenter.pdf
Size
1.77 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
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