The Impact of Entrepreneurial Communities. A case study

Abstract This master thesis explores the impact of entrepreneurial communities on entrepreneurs. It aims to advance the understanding of the relevance of the social capital concept within that particular field of entrepreneurship research. This qualitative research study addresses the research question in the context of Startup Grind, a global entrepreneurial community. The data consists of 32 interviews with chapter directors conducted in Silicon Valley in February 2015. The data suggests a relationship between social interaction, social capital and potential entrepreneurial outcomes. The data also unveils elements that cannot be explained within the concept of social capital. This is particularly true for the concept of inspiration. It seems that inspiration plays an important role among community members in order to pursue their entrepreneurial endeavor. However, inspiration hardly finds any acknowledgment in the existing entrepreneurial literature. Finally, the study suggests that the impact of entrepreneurial communities can occur on multiple levels, which should be accounted for in future research