Peers, tutors and Damien Hirst: the impact of anti-role models on early-stage creative entrepreneurs

The paper presents a qualitative examination of the impact of role models in framing the entrepreneurial intention of early-stage creative entrepreneurs and emphasises the popularity of anti-role models for entrepreneurs in the creative industries. By analysing data from 15 nascent creative entrepreneurs, we offer a typology of role models for creative entrepreneurs and test theory about the impact of anti-role models for enterprise development. As key findings we propose that the popularity of anti-role models in this context stems from unique sectoral and personal motivations that exist in the creative industries, such as the need for autonomy and originality of output, conceptualisation of success beyond commercial gains, intense identity work of creatives that become founders and risk taking prevalent in the early stages of creative venture creation. The findings contribute to the literature on the impact of anti-role models in framing entrepreneurial intention and have practical implications for creative enterprise education, development and business support.