Demand pull versus resource push training approaches to entrepreneurship: A field experiment
通过一项涉及236名早期创业者的6个月实地实验，比较了侧重需求侧活动与侧重资源侧活动的两种创业培训方法，发现需求侧培训在获取客户和收入方面效果显著更优。
Abstract Research Summary We compare the efficacy of two broad approaches to entrepreneurship training: a training prioritizing demand‐side activities versus a training prioritizing resource‐side activities. We do so by running a field experiment inside a 6‐month entrepreneurship program involving 236 early‐stage entrepreneurs. Inspired by our training, the first group invested more time interacting with potential customers and developing a deep understanding of customer needs and problems. The other group, in contrast, spent more time identifying and exploiting their core resources such as their network. Our results reveal that the training prioritizing demand‐side activities is substantially more effective. At the end of the program, the group exposed to the demand‐side training acquired more than twice the number of customers and generated revenues 65% higher than the other group. Managerial Summary In this paper, we aim to identify effective practices for supporting nascent entrepreneurs amidst the proliferation of entrepreneurship training programs. In particular, we launched a 6‐month entrepreneurship program involving 236 early‐stage entrepreneurs and exposed them to different training approaches. We discovered that a training approach focused on demand‐side activities, such as identifying customer persona, collecting reliable customer information, and interpreting their feedback, is more effective in improving new venture performance than a training approach focused on resource‐side activities such as helping entrepreneurs identify and leverage their resources and capabilities. Our findings emphasize the importance of developing skills related to customer analysis, market understanding, and collecting customer feedback during the early stages of a startup journey and can provide insights for designing effective entrepreneurship programs.