Family firms are significant drivers of economic and social prosperity. These firms are typically characterized by being controlled by the family members, having high decision-making concentration, and pursuing non-financial goals, commonly known as socioemotional wealth (SEW). The emotional bond of the family to the establishment and their desire to maintain the heritage of the business makes it difficult for them to relinquish control or decision-making authority to new stakeholders. In this line, the involvement of external investors in family firms may generate concerns regarding the future control and decision-making authority. Further, how family firms navigate market dynamics and respond to competition determines their sustainable growth. Notwithstanding, there is lack of research on how enrolling external stakeholders and strategic flexibility affect the future growth of family firms. In this line, by combining and integrating data from NRG and Compustat Global, we compare the outcome of public entrepreneurial firms that are family-owned versus those that are not. We then investigate how institutional and environmental flexibility affect their future performance. Our findings have important implications for theorizing the SEW framework and contribute to the literatures on competitive dynamisms, corporate governance, ownership, and strategic adaptation. We also offer practical implications to family firms in addressing the control versus ownership dilemma.