Mind the gap: To what extent do fashion entrepreneurs' personal characteristics and competencies impact the survival of their respective startups?

In recent years, the notion of entrepreneurship has gained increased attention in the academic and business circuits, emphasizing the impact of entrepreneurial activity associated with innovation, value generation, and breaking through barriers, whilst putting forward products and services today’s generations could not imagine living without. One set of industries, where such entrepreneurial qualities are mirrored are those in close connection to cultural and artistic activity. It is therefore not surprising that entrepreneurial research’s focus has been increasingly concerned with the commerce of culture. Aside such growing interest, the literary efforts concerning individual players within the cultural industries, especially the fashion industry, have been scarce. This thesis therefore aims to fill this literary gap while examining the empirical relationship between fashion entrepreneurs’ personal characteristics, educational background, field of study, relevant industry experience, and previous entrepreneurial experience, and the impact of these competencies on the performance of their respective startups. The results of this study, carried out on a sample of 219 global fashion startups, founded by a single entrepreneur between 2014 and 2015 indicate a significant, positive relationship between previous entrepreneurial experience and startup performance. Aside its contribution to our extended understanding on fashion enterprises and the fashion entrepreneur, the current study thus sheds light on the importance of future research regarding entrepreneurial characteristics and competencies in the fashion industry and their relation to startup performance.