Exploring entrepreneur-intermediary interactions regarding user orientation : evidence from Living-labs-as-a-service projects

Innovation intermediaries are confronted with different entrepreneurial types. Academic attention on the interactions between entrepreneurs and innovation intermediaries is limited. Four entrepreneurial types are discussed throughout this paper. These are based on the source of the entrepreneurial idea (Shah & Tripsas, 2007) and the (prime) motivation for entrepreneurial activities (Block, Sandner & Spiegel, 2015): enduser entrepreneurs, professional-user entrepreneurs, classic (opportunity-driven) entrepreneurs and forced entrepreneurs. Further, this paper proposes a conceptual entrepreneur-intermediary interaction process model, facilitating knowledge transfer, with 5 stages: alignment, learning activities, interpretation, sense-making and implementation. The process model is explored by means of a multi-dimensional case study of 8 projects with distinct entrepreneurial types. Evidence is sourced from the context of a Living-Lab-as-a-Service organization. The paper contributes to the understanding of entrepreneur-intermediary interactions in general, and interactions through Living-Labs-as-a-Service in particular.