@misc{9243712,
  abstract     = {{This study explores how start-up entrepreneurs navigate the dual demands of customer validation and investor legitimacy under the liability of newness, and how their initial human capital (IHC) shapes this navigation. Adopting an exploratory, theory-building ambition, the study draws on five qualitative interviews analysed through an abductive approach. Rather than experiencing the two demands as a trade-off, entrepreneurs appear to navigate them as interdependent. From this, the study develops a conceptual framework, the Start-up Circuit Model, in which legitimacy is converted into capital, capital into runway, and runway into customer validation, which in turn renews legitimacy. IHC is found to regulate how entrepreneurs enter and move through this circuit, shaping the validation they can demand, their reliance on impression management, and how they protect their limited entrepreneurial attention.}},
  author       = {{Rosenberg, Alexander and Palving, Alex and Midzic, Emina}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The Start-Up Circuit: How start-up entrepeneurs navigate the dual demands of customer validation and investor legitimacy}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}