Making Sense out of Almost Nothing: Entrepreneurial Sensemaking and Innovation in a Chinese Biotechnology Startup

Until recently, studies of sensemaking typically focused on seasoned practitioners, and there is limited understanding about how sensemaking takes place in start-ups that are run by novice entrepreneurs. Drawing on a case study of a biotechnology firm in China, we investigate how three novice entrepreneurs were able to transcend liabilities of newness and smallness by drawing on guidance from internal and external stakeholders. We develop a grounded model of entrepreneurial sensemaking through three distinctive phases of collective improvisation, collaborative selection, and iterative refinements.