Autonomy is considered vital to entrepreneurship, but in the context of a new venture team (NVT), excessive independence in individual team members could disrupt the collective processes necessary for coordinated action. Drawing on structuration theory, we reconceptualize autonomy as a dynamic force that both shapes action and is shaped by the structure of a NVT. Using time-lagged data across two studies (N = 46, 62 teams), we find that autonomy in team members has an inverted U-shaped curvilinear relationship with innovation. Moreover, we demonstrate that certain lead founder personality traits – Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy – create “structuration contexts” that shape how autonomy enables or constrains innovation. Theoretical contributions, practical implications, and promising avenues for future research are discussed.
