The entrepreneurship literature has taken an increased interest in the complex mechanisms and outcomes of storytelling in recent years. However, the literature around storytelling and its specific relevance to the context of entrepreneurship remains both fragmented and contains significant theoretical “blind spots,” with a distinct bias towards qualitative methods, internal storytellers, and positive outcomes. We take a narrative practice approach to our review of the relevant literature by linking together a storyteller and their audience (who) as agents in the use of content (what) and mechanisms (how) to generate outcomes (why). This approach allows us to frame our study using a method consistent with our subject to create a foundational conceptual framework of the key mechanisms of entrepreneurial storytelling, the main theoretical contributions and themes which drive it, and its underlying assumptions and boundary conditions. Having outlined these essential elements for the 81 articles included in our analysis, we synthesize the insights and outline several promising directions for future research to build a more holistic understanding of the unique and influential mechanisms of storytelling in entrepreneurship.
