While prior research recognizes the importance of an entrepreneur’s experience, existing conceptualizations of experience fail to capture the full reality and diversity of life experiences that influence the entrepreneurial process. We build on extant work to define and theorize lived experience as an overlooked resource stock comprised of three dimensions: closeness, context specificity, and duration. We then integrate lived experience into the entrepreneurial process, showing that disclosure and legitimacy are contingent on the relational factors between entrepreneurs and their specific audiences. The theory of lived experience fundamentally shifts the inputs that scholars conceive of as critical factors for the entrepreneurial process and has important implications, particularly for understanding how entrepreneurs address grand challenges.
