Experiential Learning and Entrepreneurship
Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) defines learning as "the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience" (Kolb, 1984).
Unlike rationalist or cognitive theories that emphasize rote memorization and recall, ELT focuses on subjective experience. It is the bridge between reading about business and actually doing business.
1. Knowledge vs. Know-How
To understand ELT, one must distinguish between two types of understanding:
- Explicit Knowledge: Facts learned through language, textbooks, and formal education.
- Know-How (Tacit Knowledge): Skills acquired through hands-on practice, trial, and error.
In entrepreneurship, know-how is often the deciding factor. An entrepreneur may have deep market knowledge (data) but lack the practical know-how to bring a product to market. This gap can only be closed through the risks and mistakes of the experiential process.
2. Kolb’s Learning Cycle
Kolb proposes that learning is a cycle of four stages. To truly learn, an entrepreneur must rotate through all four:
- Concrete Experience: Doing something (e.g., launching a prototype).
- Reflective Observation: Reviewing what happened (e.g., analyzing customer feedback).
- Abstract Conceptualization: Concluding/learning from the experience (e.g., "The price is too high").
- Active Experimentation: Planning the next step (e.g., pivoting the business model).
3. Corbett’s Extension: Matching Style to Stage
Building on Kolb, Corbett (2005) argues that entrepreneurship is not a single activity, but a process with distinct stages. Each stage requires a different "learning style."
| Entrepreneurial Stage | Required Learning Style | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| Preparation | Convergent | Solving specific problems and finding the "one right answer." |
| Incubation | Assimilative | Thinking through ideas and creating theoretical models. |
| Evaluation | Divergent | Brainstorming many possible solutions; gathering information. |
| Elaboration | Accommodative | "Hands-on" execution; carrying out plans and taking risks. |
4. Applications: Spinouts and Serial Entrepreneurs
This theory provides a framework for explaining two common phenomena in the startup world:
The Employee Spinout
Why do employees who leave firms to start competitors often succeed? Because of Experiential Learning. While employed, they acquired skills, absorbed values, and developed social capital (Sørensen & Fassiotto, 2011). They transfer this "know-how" directly into their new spinout venture.
The Serial Entrepreneur
ELT also explains why second-time founders often perform better. Each entrepreneurial venture produces a learning outcome—a transformation of experience—that increases the odds of success in the next round.
Video: Kolb's Learning Styles Explained
Academic Sources
- Corbett, A. C. (2005). Experiential learning within the process of opportunity identification and exploitation. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 29(4), 473–491.
- Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development (Vol. 1). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
- Sørensen, J. B., & Fassiotto, M. A. (2011). Organizations as fonts of entrepreneurship. Organization Science, 22(5), 1322-1331.
