Do great technological ideas make great business opportunities? Entrepreneur´s self-regulatory focus in opportunity building

How do technology-based entrepreneurs transform technological ideas into business opportunities? We explore how individual´s self-regulatory focus and institutional forces influence in the opportunity construction process. This research addresses the apparent paradox between the exploration efforts of the entrepreneur to find a use for the technological idea, with the institutional pressure advance to opportunity exploitation. We use an inductive multiple-case study with a sample of three technology-based entrepreneurs to shed some light on the phenomena. The results suggest that there is a two-stage process in the transformation of an idea into an opportunity; entrepreneur´s ability to moderate their self-regulatory focus is seen to play an important role in this process. These findings hold several implications for entrepreneurs and stakeholders interested in promoting technology-based entrepreneurship.