Overcoming the liability of poorness: disadvantage, fragility, and the poverty entrepreneur.

All entrepreneurs must overcome the liabilities of newness and smallness as they attempt to launch and grow a new venture. However, those in poverty face an even greater challenge due to a concept we introduce, known as the liability of poorness, which centers on literacy gaps, a scarcity mindset, intense non-business pressures, and the lack of a safety net. Each of these components of the liability of poorness contributes to the disadvantage and fragility of the enterprises confronting the poor. Implications of this fragility for venture dynamics as well as how some poverty entrepreneurs overcome this liability are explored. Research priorities are discussed for ongoing work on the liability of poorness.

The future of entrepreneurship: the few or the many?

Gazelles (high-growth), unicorns (ventures valued at $1 billion), and decacorns (ventures valued at $10 billion) appear to be dominating the landscape of entrepreneurship. In 2021, there were more than 700 ventures that have been valued at $1 billion or more by venture capitalists, and there seems to be a continued trend in more arising. However, the facts show that small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for over 90% of businesses and 50% of employment of the worldwide population, contributing up to 55% of GDP in developed economies. Thus, it is clear that in developed countries, small firms are the economy. However, the entire realm of entrepreneurship appears to drifting slowly away from the importance of smaller firms and focusing the entire emphasis on the relatively few tech giants. These giant corporations are now viewed through the prism of entrepreneurship. Thus, we ask quo vadis - where will the focus of entrepreneurship be post-COVID-19 - centralization or democratization? For researchers and policy makers, shedding some light on this question may help in the formulation of research agendas and policy directions.

Entrepreneurial ecosystems: economic, technological, and societal impacts.

Despite the overwhelming use of the metaphor 'ecosystem' in academia, industry, policy, and management, exact definitions of what 'ecosystems' really comprise are scarce and often inconsistent. Existing vague descriptions in the literature do not consider the boundaries of respective agglomerations, hence, they impede the evaluation of performance and outcome measures of respective ecosystems. This special issue is a first attempt to trace the 'ecosystem' discussion back to its roots-the ancient oikos, coined by the Greek philosopher Hesiod (700 BC), and aims to critically reflect on the usage of the term 'ecosystem', briefly summarize the extant literature and grasp the main features of entrepreneurial ecosystems, namely the economic, technological, and societal dimensions of entrepreneurial ecosystems. We intend to focus on the key elements that characterize an ecosystem, and hence, untangle under what conditions entrepreneurial firms shape and influence economic, technological, and societal thinking within their ecosystem.