ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the circumstances of the start-up of the company in 1979 and the method of pultrusion. Penrose, in a rare consideration of the start-up situation, notes that the selection of the relevant product-markets is necessarily determined by the "inherited" resources of the firm – the productive services it already has. Fiberline and Henrik Thorning draw on the basic narrative when they make decisions and act; the preference of Henrik Thorning in focusing on particular productive activities and markets finds explanation in this narrative. The construction of the basic narrative is strongly influenced by the prior experience and knowledge of Henrik Thorning, which can be said to be the inherited resources of Fiberline or the productive services available to the company in the start-up situation. Penrose notes, however, the persuasive abilities of the entrepreneur are not the same services needed to run a firm efficiently.
