Entrepreneurial passion is socially contagious. However, do entrepreneurs also select whom they interact with based on passion similarity? The complex interdependencies between social networks and entrepreneurial passion remain undertheorized and empirically puzzling. Using a stochastic actor-oriented model (SIENA) and four waves of panel data, we test hypotheses about the co-evolution of social networks and entrepreneurial passion during a 5-month startup accelerator program. We observe that social ties occur more frequently among peer entrepreneurs who are similar in levels of passion for founding. Initial homophily selection explains 34% of this observed similarity whereas social contagion explains 57%. Finally, we find that passion for founding is more contagious among members of startup teams than across other peer ties. Surprisingly, none of these effects are significant for passion for inventing. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

创业热情具有社会感染力。然而，企业家是否也会根据激情相似度来选择与谁互动？社交网络与创业热情之间复杂的相互依存关系仍未得到充分理论化，而且在实证上也令人费解。我们使用随机参与者导向模型 (SIENA) 和四波面板数据，在为期 5 个月的创业加速器计划中检验关于社交网络和创业热情共同进化的假设。我们观察到，在创业热情水平相似的同行企业家中，社会关系更频繁地发生。最初的同质性选择解释了这种观察到的相似性的 34%，而社会传染解释了 57%。最后，我们发现创业团队成员的创业热情比其他同行关系更具感染力。出奇，这些影响对发明的热情都不重要。我们讨论了这些发现的理论和实践意义。