DOES ENTREPRENEURIAL EXPERIENCE MATTER?

This paper reports the results of two studies which provide evidence of experientially based cognitive development in entrepreneurship. Decision scenarios representing different entrepreneurial ventures were examined by subjects. In the first study, subjects recommended actions for the hypothetical entrepreneur to perform. There were significant differences among experiential groups with respect to the volume of responses and the extent to which search for information was prescribed. In the second study, subjects rated actions which were provided. Again, there were experiential differences in the responses and these differences were related to entrepreneurial performance. These findings support the incorporation of an experiential component in entrepreneurship education and suggest that further cognitive research in the field would be beneficial.