Evolution of Entrepreneurial Teams during Business Incubation Stages

This chapter aims to explore and describe the composition of newly formed entrepreneurial teams, working relationships among their members, and perception of self-performance at each stage of the business incubation process. The research follows a qualitative approach that involves semi-structured interviews of members from entrepreneurial teams at different stages of business development. Findings show the team composition is an important element and how these changes as the team progress through business incubation stages. Relationships between members change from informal to professional with more defined roles. The perception of the business incubator’s effect on the team decreases as the maturity stages advance. On the contrary, each member’s perceived expectations are deemed to be higher at the beginning of the project. This research contributes to the knowledge of the dynamics of the entrepreneurial teams and their needs at each stage of business incubation.