Entrepreneurs often start with a promising idea for a new product or service, but misalignments with their target market frequently emerge (Grimes, 2018). Successfully commercializing an idea requires accurate environmental interpretations, correct judgments, and an understanding of execution (Shane & Venkataraman, 2000). It's rare for an entrepreneur to get everything right initially, necessitating a pivot—a change in the business idea (Grimes, 2018; Guinan & Parise, 2017). Pivoting helps align the idea with the market, attracting financing (De Cock et al., 2020), enabling growth (Blank & Dorf, 2012), and ensuring long-term survival (Andries & Debackere, 2007).

Pivoting is highly regarded in practitioner literature, such as the lean start-up method (Ries, 2011), and is taught globally in entrepreneurship courses (Felin et al., 2019). However, scientific research on pivoting is only emerging. The scant literature shows that entrepreneurs may pivot based on feedback questioning their idea's viability (Kirtley & O’Mahony, 2020; Wood et al., 2019), but are often hindered by cognitive and emotional constraints, expertise (Furr et al., 2012; Leatherbee & Katila, 2020), novelty orientation (Snihur & Zott, 2020), and psychological ownership (Grimes, 2018). 

While current studies focus on individual characteristics, understanding pivoting requires considering external feedback and the entrepreneur’s community of inquiry—stakeholders validating the idea's viability (Autio et al., 2013; Shepherd, 2015). This community includes customers, investors, suppliers, R&D partners, industry experts, mentors, and advisors (Sattari, 2020; Seyb et al., 2019). More research is needed on how these communities emerge, evolve, and influence pivoting decisions, including the impact of subcommunities with different interests (Shepherd, 2015; Shepherd et al., 2020a; Shepherd et al., 2020b). In this research project, we will investigate (a) how a community of inquiry emerges and how it evolves over time and (b) to which extent the composition of the community of inquiry affects the pivoting decision. 

This research addresses recent calls to expand academic knowledge on pivoting (e.g., Shepherd & Gruber, 2020), contributing to entrepreneurship and management fields. These literatures seek a better understanding of the social context in venture creation (Shepherd, 2015; Shepherd et al., 2020a), noting researchers often overestimate internal factors and underestimate external ones in behavioral judgments (Welter, 2011). The project is also societally relevant. For example, the Flemish government offers 142 initiatives to support entrepreneurs. Many involve coaches and industry experts providing feedback. In Flanders, about 40 incubators and accelerators assist entrepreneurs by offering feedback and networking opportunities (VLAIO, 2019). Understanding these communities of inquiry, their characteristics, and interactions with entrepreneurs is crucial for improving public and private programs and enhancing entrepreneurial performance in Flanders and beyond.