10082: Dismantling the Unicorn Myth: Reimagining Responsible Entrepreneurship Through Systems Change

Tuesday, July 29, 2025

13:45 - 15:15 CEST (GMT+2)

Location: Bella Center: Hall D- D3-m4

Session Type: Symposium (panel)
Shareable link: https://cdmcd.co/6vpXg4

Organizer(s)

JZ

Jonah Zankl

The University of Queensland, Australia

Moderator(s)

MM

Maria Minniti

Syracuse U., United States

Participant(s)

JB

Joel Bothello

John Molson School of Business, Concordia U., Canada
LH

Lisa K. Hehenberger

ESADE Business School, Spain
CH

Christina Julia Hertel

GSEM - U. of Geneva, Switzerland
DW

Daniel Wadhwani

U. of Southern California, United States
VB

Vikram R. Bhargava

The George Washington University, United States

Contemporary entrepreneurship is often characterized by disruptive practices that prioritize rapid scaling and market dominance over societal impact, leading to significant negative externalities. This symposium challenges these prevailing narratives by exploring how entrepreneurship can be reimagined as a responsible, systemically embedded practice that creates genuine societal value. Drawing on diverse theoretical and ontological perspectives, we examine the mechanisms and dynamics that could support responsible entrepreneurship while dismantling myths surrounding "unicorn" entrepreneurship and winner-takes-all mentalities. Additionally, we encourage scholarly introspection regarding how entrepreneurship research itself may perpetuate problematic narratives. We aim to develop a critical research agenda that moves beyond individual decision-making to explore how responsibility can be re-embedded as a core tenet of entrepreneurship through institutional and systemic change.