Psikologi Peluang Kewirausahaan: Proses Kognitif Pengusaha Startup Digital dalam Opportunity Recognition

Abstract

Initial psychological studies on entrepreneurship are focused on the personal characteristics of the entrepreneurs. However, conclusions from more than 30 years of research indicate that there are no special personality characteristics of entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs. In essence, the heart of entrepreneurship lies in the ability to recognize an opportunity. Opportunity recognition is a mechanism that happens in an individual’s cognitive process. Therefore, this study intended to reveal the cognitive processes that take place when entrepreneurs, in particular, the founders of digital startups, in the identification of entrepreneurial opportunities. This research uses a think-aloud protocol method with protocol analysis. Based on this research, we found that in the process of opportunity recognition, entrepreneurs focus their cognitive efforts on the market (demand) and technology (supply) as well as build relationships and meaningful patterns in these two aspects through structural relationship processing. This study provides an in-depth description of the cognitive processes that occur when entrepreneurs recognize entrepreneurial opportunities through structural alignment processes.

Keywords

• cognitive process
• digital startup
• entrepreneurship
• opportunity recognition