Post by Università Bocconi

How do #founders capture market attention, and how do they sustain it over time?     In #entrepreneurial lore, founders are often portrayed as bold visionaries who shape markets through disruptive ideas. But markets are not passive audiences. Customers respond, reinterpret, and shift their interests over time, and founders who fail to adapt risk losing attention, even when their ideas are strong. Associate Professor Paola Cillo and Full Professor Gaia Rubera challenge a widespread assumption in #Entrepreneurship: that success depends mainly on vision and the ability to shape markets. Their research shows a more dynamic process in which founders and markets continuously interact, learn from each other, and evolve together.     The study builds on entrepreneurial action theory and the design perspective, highlighting how founders shape opportunities through key #artifacts that make ideas visible and testable. To test this framework, the authors analyze 1,529 US #startups founded in 2014 and 2015, combining social media data, text analysis, and time-series methods. It focuses on what happens between founding and outcomes, a phase often treated as a black box, but where the relationship between founders and the market actually takes shape. The research identifies three main ways founders act. They can lead the market discussion by introducing new frames and narratives, follow the market by adapting communication to emerging trends, or introduce new products that reflect learning and evolving demand. These strategies do not have the same impact over time.     In the early stages, leading the conversation is crucial. When a startup is still unknown, differentiation drives #MarketAttention. Founders who shape how problems and solutions are framed are more likely to stand out. However, as the venture grows, this advantage weakens. Once a company has established its identity, constantly redefining the narrative can create confusion or reduce credibility. At that stage, listening becomes more effective. Founders who follow the market, adapting their communication to shifting customer interests, are better able to maintain attention. This does not mean abandoning vision but adjusting it in response to feedback and evolving expectations. #ProductInnovation adds another layer. Its impact is not immediate, but increases over time, signaling progress, responsiveness, and reliability. Introducing new products becomes a way to reinforce relevance and demonstrate learning.  Successful founders tend to follow a dynamic path: they start by shaping the market, then progressively shift toward listening, while reinforcing their relevance through products. This challenges the idea that entrepreneurship is only about leading, emphasizing the importance of flexibility instead. Capturing attention is not a one-off event, but a continuous process that requires changing strategies. In this sense, growth is not only about scaling, but about learning how to evolve.