Storytelling, Discursive Strategies and Resource Acquisition: A New Venture in the Game Industry

Studies have shown than entrepreneurs use stories about their new ventures in order to gain the support of key resource providers such investors, business partners and future employees. Although previous research suggested that entrepreneurial stories’ content must include identity and legitimacy claims, as well as justifications about the ventures’ existence and expectations about the future, little is known on how these different features are brought together in stories. My study is aimed at this gap and the research question is the following: how do entrepreneurs discursively construct their ventures’ stories in order to obtain the support of key resource providers? An understanding on the micro-discursive aspects of stories is essential to develop effective communication and obtain access to key resources, in initial stages of activity and as the entrepreneurial journey unfolds. This study contributes to this endeavor and shows that discursive strategies that render ventures’ activities as rational, moral and natural, and that additionally provide examples, are especially well suited to sustain identity and legitimacy claims, as well as opposing ideas, such as conformity to the industry field and distinctiveness from it, past / future and local / international.