Based on ten months of field research in a high technology start-up, and using
ethnographic and grounded theory methodologies, this study identifies six basic
narrative types (founding, visionary, marketing, strategy, historical, and conven
tional) in three main categories (personal, generic, and situational) that are essen
tial in founding and governing a new company. These stories enable founders to
(a) justify the existence of the company; (b) convince others to devote funds and
other key resources to the company; and (c) make key decisions in the short and
intermediate term. Also described in the paper is the interaction of these narra
tives, which in this case were often conflicting and even contradictory. The paper
argues that a key competence of the founder and entrepreneur is not only the abil
ity to develop narrative competence across the three categories but also to develop
a command of their interactivity, or intertextuality.
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