The Relational Dimension of Feedback Interactions: A Study of Early Feedback Meetings Between Entrepreneurs and Potential Mentors
| Published date | 01 April 2023 |
| Author | Ruben Werven,Joep Cornelissen,Onno Bouwmeester |
| Date | 01 April 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12615 |
British Journal of Management, Vol. 34, 873–897 (2023)
DOI: 10.1111/1467-8551.12615
The Relational Dimension of Feedback
Interactions: A Study of Early Feedback
Meetings Between Entrepreneurs and
Potential Mentors
Ruben van Werven ,1Joep Cornelissen2and Onno Bouwmeester 3
1Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), City, University of London, 106 Bunhill Row, London, EC1Y 8TZ,
UK, 2Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Postbus 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, Rotterdam,
The Netherlands, and 3School of Business and Economics, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105,
1081 HV Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Corresponding author email: ruben.van-werven@city.ac.uk
Entrepreneurs’ responses to feedback are in part determined by how the interactionsdur-
ing which they receive it unfold. Prior studies primarily discuss feedback interactions
between entrepreneurs and their mentors or trusted advisors. As a result of this focus on
longstanding relationships, there is limited knowledge of ‘early’ meetings – conversations
between feedback providers and entrepreneurswho do not know each other well – and the
ways in which these shape the relationship between the interactants, as well as the way
feedback is received.Our analysis of 54 early feedback interactions suggests that changes
in epistemic stance and alignment inuence whether there is afliation, that is, affective
cooperation, between entrepreneurs and feedback providers.We theorize that afliation
is necessary for early feedback interactions to develop into longstanding feedback rela-
tionships.
Introduction
Feedback plays an important rolein the process of
starting a new venture (Bergman and McMullen,
in press; Grimes, 2018; Weinberger et al., 2018).
Entrepreneurs may adjust their course in response
to performance feedback, that is, upon realizing
that their performance is above or below aspira-
tions (Domurath, Patzelt and Liebl, 2020; Piening
et al., 2021). They can also decide to make changes
after receiving interpersonal feedback from in-
vestors, mentors,customers, or peer entrepreneurs
(Balachandra, Sapienza and Kim, 2014; Barney
et al., 1996; Drencheva et al., 2021; Krishnan
et al., 2021; Lahti, 2014; Leatherbee and Katila,
2020). The focus of this paper lies on interpersonal
feedback.
Prior research found that the attitude and
behaviour of the entrepreneur and feedback
provider are the main factors determining whether
interpersonal feedback has positive effects on
entrepreneurs and their ventures (Kirtley and
O’Mahoney, in press; Zuzul and Tripsas, 2020).
These studies generally limit their focus to ‘one
of the agents in the feedback dyad’ (Anseel, Vos-
saert and Corneillie, 2018, p. 337). A smaller
stream of work acknowledges that interpersonal
feedback revolves around interactions (Ashford,
De Stobbeleir and Nujella, 2016; Wu, Parker
and De Jong, 2014). These studies show that
the conversations thatentrepreneurs and feedback
providers have, as well as the context in which
these take place,shape the way feedback is received
(Amezcua et al., 2013; Haines, in press; Lefebvre
and Redien-Collot, 2013).
A free video abstract to accompanythis article can be found online at: https://youtu.be/-NHYo5J4ncYhttps://youtu.be/-
NHYo5J4ncY
© 2022 The Authors.British Journal of Management published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Academy
of Management.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Li-
cense, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-
commercial and no modications or adaptations are made.
874 van Werven et al.
Most research treats feedback interactions as
one-off encounters during which people dispas-
sionately exchange viewpoints (Fisher, Pillemer
and Amabile, 2018). Yet, these conversations also
have implications for the relationship between the
feedback provider and feedback receiver (Anseel,
Vossaert and Corneillie, 2018). This relational di-
mension of feedback is only considered in stud-
ies of long-term relationships, which nd that
entrepreneurs who receive feedback from some-
one they trust are more likely to reconsider en-
trenched beliefs and explore new areas (e.g., Strike
and Rerup, 2016). Along similar lines, the men-
toring literature also emphasizes the relational na-
ture of longstanding feedback relationships (Allen
et al., 2017; Jones and Corner, 2012), and even
suggests that feedback should only be provided
as part of an established mentorship (Humberd
and Rouse, 2016; Kram, 1983). Due to this fo-
cus on existing relationships, the mentoring and
entrepreneurship literatures do not explain how
entrepreneurs and feedback providers relate to
each other before trust and a shared history have
developed.
A better understanding of the relational di-
mension of ‘early’ feedback meetings, that is,
interactions between entrepreneurs and feedback
providers who do not know each other well, is
important for two main reasons. First, those
meetings are increasingly common: nascent en-
trepreneurs – people ‘in the process of establishing
a business venture’ (Dimov, 2010, p. 1126) – fre-
quently receive feedback from people they have
never met before, for instance during events or-
ganized by incubators and accelerators (Bergman
and McMullen, in press; Cohen, Bingham and
Hallen, 2019; Hallen, Cohen and Bingham, 2020).
Second, early feedback interactions may kickstart
long-term feedback relationships. Research sug-
gests that long-term relationships offer benets
that one-off feedback cannot provide (Humberd
and Rouse, 2016; Fisher, Pillemer and Amabile,
2018) but does not explain how they form. While
early feedback interactions may be a starting
point, there is no guarantee, because feedback
providers and receivers who are relative strangers
face challenges in communicating with each other
(Harrison and Rouse, 2015; Lefebvre and Redien-
Collot, 2013). Exploring the relational dimension
of early feedback interactions may shed light on
the connection between these interactions and
long-term feedback relationships.
In this paper,we therefore address the following
question: How do early feedback interactions
between nascent entrepreneurs and feedback
providers unfold, and how do these interactions
shape the relationship that is formed and the way
feedback is received? To answer this question,
we analysed 54 early meetings that were facili-
tated by an Amsterdam-based accelerator. Across
these meetings, we observed differences related to
alignment, that is, the ‘structural level of coop-
eration between interactants’ (Stivers, Mondada
and Steensig, 2011b, p. 20), and epistemic stance,
namely the extent to which one party displays
more knowledge about a certain topic than the
other (Stivers, Mondada and Steensig, 2011a).
These differences in turn seem connected to two
manifestations of afliation (Stivers, Mondada
and Steensig, 2011b): the level of agreement be-
tween the interactants, and the expressedintention
to meet again. Based on these ndings, we argue
that afliation is necessary for early interactions
to develop into long-term feedback relationships.
Our ndings have three main theoretical impli-
cations. First, we contribute to the literature on
entrepreneurial feedback, which focuses on inter-
actions between entrepreneurs and their mentors
or trusted advisors but does not explain how those
longstanding bonds develop. We theorize that the
conditions that shape afliation during early feed-
back interactions can contribute to the initiation
of a long-term feedback relationship after the
meeting. Second, we show how the dynamics of
early feedback interactions, particularly spillover
effects from feedback discussions thattake place at
the start of these meetings, shape the way feedback
is received. We thereby extend prior work on en-
trepreneurial feedback, which does not discuss in
detail how entrepreneurs respond to the feedback
they receive during early interactions. Finally, we
advance the mentoring literatureby demonstrating
that, contrary to whatexisting work assumes, feed-
back is not only provided after mentorships have
been established but also has a strong impact on
early interactions.
Literature review
Interpersonal feedback as an interactive
phenomenon
The existing literature on interpersonal feedback
in entrepreneurship focuses primarily on measur-
© 2022 The Authors.British Journal of Management published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British
Academy of Management.
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