On the role of team passion in inventing, founding and developing: what happens in the early stages of entrepreneurship?

Purpose Drawing on the Broaden-and-build theory, the study investigates the impact of team entrepreneurial passion (TEP) on team performance. This study further examines the mediating role of team cooperation between TEP and team performance. Thus, by expanding the conceptual model of TEP, the authors examine how three domains of TEP, namely inventing, founding and developing affect the entrepreneurial outcomes in the early stages of entrepreneurship. Design/methodology/approach Survey data were collected from 29 entrepreneurial teams, and the proposed relationships were assessed through Smart-PLS 3.2.8 structural equation modeling (SEM) tool. Findings Regarding the domains of TEP, the authors' findings show that the TEP for inventing is positively related to team performance. As for the influences of TEP for inventing and TEP for developing, both are the most beneficial for entrepreneurial outputs, such as team members' abilities to recognize and exploit opportunities. Originality/value Although there is an increased scholars' interest in entrepreneurial passion, there is a lack of research that examines the enabling factors and outcomes of entrepreneurial passion at the team level. This study is among the earliest research studies that not only empirically explores the relationships between TEP and team performance but also illustrates how each domain of TEP uniquely influences entrepreneurial outcomes by extending existing studies on entrepreneurial passion.