Entrepreneurial action is both motivated by and organized around visions—narratives of desirable future states of the world. Despite our growing understanding of the dynamics of entrepreneurial imagination, we know very little about how, why, and with what effects entrepreneurial visions are extended, mobilized, and transmitted over long time horizons. Accordingly, in this study we ask: after a vision leads to the initial achievement of entrepreneurial success, how can it be carried forward to become part of the collectively imagined future of an entrepreneurial ecosystem? Through a micro-historical case study of one of the most prominent Italian entrepreneurs of the twentieth century, Adriano Olivetti, we seek to identify the narrative mechanisms by which entrepreneurial visions are elevated to shape the collective imagination of entrepreneurs who today refer to themselves as “Olivettian entrepreneurs.” Our core contribution is a theoretical framework of the cultural impact of entrepreneurship that describes the processes by which entrepreneurial imagination is transmitted within a society over time.
