ABSTRACT
Heroic entrepreneurs like Henry Ford, Sam Walton, and Michael Dell are often described as creative for their transformational business ideas, visionary for their ability to attract supporters and consumers, and vanguards of change for their ventures’ transformational impact on modern business practices. Although few entrepreneurs have had the impact of Ford, Walton, and Dell, all successful new ventures can be attributed to a combination of creative associations by an entrepreneur (Eckhardt & Shane, 2003), social networking processes that spur creativity and organizing efforts (Perry-Smith & Shalley, 2003), and markets that respond positively to a new venture’s initial actions (Christensen, 1997). Consider Walter Robb’s more typical circuitous journey during the invention of practical liquid membranes for gas separation that resulted in a new business venture at GE. His case demonstrates how a creative association between a technology (ultrathin membranes) and a market (the Navy) instigated an iterative, evolu-
Cameron M. Ford University of Central Florida
tionary process where ideas attracted supporters who provided additional creative associations that improved the ideas, thus attracting further support, and so on until a new venture resulted.
