Entrepreneurs grapple with temporal tension, a dynamic friction arising from the discrepancies between aspirational and actual timelines of activities. Due to its highly malleable nature, temporal configurations are a powerful source of distinctiveness to entrepreneurial actions, such that entrepreneurs use temporal elements as ways to stand out from peers. Grounded in optimal distinctiveness theory, this paper theorizes the previously underexplored role of temporality not merely as a neutral backdrop but as deliberate positioning of entrepreneurial action to achieve differentiation. Building on the time-calibrated theory of entrepreneurial action, we propose a theoretical model that identifies four key mechanisms—claiming, layering, exemplifying, and endorsing—that entrepreneurs use to construct temporal narratives. These mechanisms, mediated by orchestration of resources and organizing activities, shape stakeholders’ perceptions of convergence between the aspirational and actual, leading to varying degrees of optimal temporal distinctiveness. Our arguments contribute to the conversation on the role of time and timing in entrepreneurship, and in turn, inform the optimal distinctiveness literature by introducing legitimacy as an actor-contingent construct and conceptualizing degrees of optimal distinctiveness as dynamic trajectories rather than fixed outcomes.
