Having your cake and eating it too? A two-stage model of the impact of employment and parallel job search on hybrid nascent entrepreneurship

Hybrid entrepreneurship, simultaneous employment and entrepreneurship, is increasingly prevalent. We theorize entrepreneurial entry as one possible outcome of a two-stage new employment search process 1) decision to search for a job, attempt a start-up, or both and 2) outcome of start-up attempts. Stage 2 is critically different for hybrid (employed) nascent entrepreneurs who have greater access to resources and experience lower risk but also more salient alternative employment options. Using a novel longitudinal panel of new employment opportunity seekers, we find that employment status matters and that “parallel search” for a new job is detrimental to successful entrepreneurial entry. •Two-stage model of entrepreneurial entry reveals several tensions.•Stage 1 employment considerations (start-up, job, or both) influence stage 2 (entry).•Concurrent job search and start-up attempt (parallel search) is strongly detrimental.•Both prior experience and employment status have a dual influence.•This dual influence is a direct effect on entry and indirect effect via parallel search.