Student-Faculty Publication

In October of 2019, in conjunction with a student-faculty alliance, former students, Mr. Elijah Campbell and Mr. Luca Zambelli, along with Dr. Randall Croom and Dr. A.T. Vogel, published a work titled, “Not Afraid: Mitigating Fear of Failure in Entrepreneurial Entry Decisions,” in the Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship. As a result of these efforts, Mr. Campbell and Mr. Zambelli are the original members of the Hatmob Executive Board.

Abstract

One reason that individuals avoid entrepreneurship is fear of failure. Using a sample taken from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’s Adult Population Survey, we investigated which variables reduce entrepreneurial fear of failure. Although several studies have investigated the chilling effects of fear
of failure on occupational choice, we approach this question by investigating which variables related to entrepreneurial choice reduce fear of failure. Our findings suggest that gender, media presence, and personally knowing someone who has recently started a business have a negative relationship with fear of
failure, while social status and unemployment have a positive relationship with fear of failure, all of which have an indirect effect on entrepreneurship activity. Results also indicate that gender interacts with both social status and social networks to reduce fear of entrepreneurial failure in women.