Strategic Pathways for New Venture Legitimacy within the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Understanding how new ventures establish legitimacy within entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) is crucial for fostering their growth and survival. Using data from 228 Finnish firms, we employ fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to explore the configurations of strategic paths that (new) ventures adopt to establish legitimacy within the dynamic and resource-dependent environments of EEs. The results reveal different strategic configurations (solutions) for new ventures' passive and active legitimacy. The findings show that while conformance and selection are fundamental traditional strategies for gaining passive legitimacy, new ventures can still employ innovative strategies such as manipulation and selection. However, new ventures strictly employ innovative strategies (manipulation and creation) to gain active legitimacy. The study highlights the imperative of understanding the complexity of strategic choices and the resulting dynamic nature of new ventures’ legitimacy within EEs. It also suggests that policymakers and managers should consider flexible, context-specific approaches to foster small- and medium-sized companies' success by capitalizing on innovative strategies for active engagement and sustainable growth.