The University of Tennessee-Knoxville, United States
Entrepreneurial narratives are crucial for securing legitimacy and resources, yet their reliance as knowledge systems exposes vulnerabilities. This study investigates the epistemic fragility of entrepreneurial narratives, integrating cultural entrepreneurship theory and the epistemology of testimony to analyze how narratives create, transmit, and legitimize knowledge. While cultural entrepreneurship views narratives as reliable tools for legitimacy, this paper reveals inherent weaknesses, including biases, selective omissions, and pressures to persuade, which undermine reliability. Through examining epistemic fragility, pressures, and false testimonies, we argue that entrepreneurial narratives often misalign with audiences' expectations, leading to misallocation of resources and eroding trust in entrepreneurship. We propose epistemic resilience as a remedy, emphasizing transparency, ethical storytelling, and critical evaluation of narratives. By re-conceptualizing entrepreneurship as an epistemically fragile process, this study challenges foundational assumptions, offering theoretical advancements and practical tools to improve narrative reliability, ensuring informed resource allocation and sustainable innovation.
