Abstract Innovation is of central importance to entrepreneurship research, as independent entrepreneurs account for the most fundamentally novel product offerings. This study investigates how founder human capital and founder coachability relate to exploiting product innovation in new ventures. Drawing on a dyadic sample of founders and startup coaches, we clarify how general human capital broadens the knowledge corridor to enhance product innovation. Conversely, our study shines a light on the dark side of specific human capital and illustrates how specific prior knowledge constrains the knowledge corridor to limit product innovation. Further, we find that founder coachability—the degree to which an entrepreneur seeks, considers, and integrates feedback—is related to exploiting product innovation. Perhaps most importantly, we advance coachability as a learning mechanism that moderates the relationship between specific human capital and product innovation to overcome knowledge corridor constraints. Our findings have implications for human capital, coachability, and entrepreneurial learning.

中文翻译：

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逃离知识走廊：创始人人力资本和创始人可指导性如何影响新企业的产品创新

摘要 创新对于创业研究至关重要，因为独立企业家提供了最基本的新颖产品。本研究调查了创始人人力资本和创始人可指导性与在新企业中开发产品创新之间的关系。借鉴创始人和创业教练的二元样本，我们阐明了一般人力资本如何拓宽知识走廊以增强产品创新。相反，我们的研究揭示了特定人力资本的阴暗面，并说明了特定的先验知识如何限制知识走廊以限制产品创新。此外，我们发现创始人可指导性——企业家寻求、考虑和整合反馈的程度——与开发产品创新有关。也许最重要的是，我们将可指导性作为一种学习机制来调节特定人力资本与产品创新之间的关系，以克服知识走廊的限制。我们的发现对人力资本、可指导性和创业学习有影响。