DOI: 10.4324/9781003349860-4
3 Language in entrepreneurship
3.1 The importance of language in entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurial ventures are new or relatively new small companies characterised
by informal governance structures and limited resources. Therefore, the acqui-
sition of external resources is a critical step for many entrepreneurs in the early
stages of their venture. However, entrepreneurs typically face challenges in
convincing external partners of their venture at that stage due to the ‘liability
of newness’ with often little in the way of a track record, asset value, or profit-
ability to show (Brush et al., 2001). This lack of legitimacy, as we will discuss
more in depth in Chapter 6, may echo in the financing activities impleme ...