Legitimacy and Liability of Newness in New Venture Creation

Abstract: Reflecting on the theoretical as well as the practical learning outcomes of the Masters Program in Entrepreneurship: New Venture Creation, the following paper aims to examine the concepts of liabilities of newness and legitimacy and their bearing on emerging entrepreneurs as well as experienced entrepreneur crossing over to new fields of business. The paper will discuss some of the findings in entrepreneurship theories, while referring to studies in social sciences to contrast those theories and to add dimension to personal experiences relating to the topic of the essay. The main focus of the paper is to shift away from the macro conditions of firm creation and examine categories of human behaviour in order to find the intersecting point between liability of newness and legitimacy. As a conclusion, some possible remedies and strategies to alleviate liabilities of newness will be discussed.