Entrepreneurship and innovation in the Triple Helix : The perspicacity of intermediate ties

Abstract

Inherent Simmelian foundations anchor the theoretical base of the Triple Helix model. The Triple Helix model polishes the theoretical lens of Georg Simmel, revealing the empirical basis of intermediating ties in entrepreneurship and innovation. This Viewpoint article takes the path-breaking weak and strong ties approach of Mark Granovetter a step beyond the search for existing jobs into the realm of entrepreneurship and innovation: the task of creating new jobs. Building on Granovetter’s counter-intuitive social ties model, the perspicacity of intermediate ties is that they constitute an often invisible category of collegial and friendship ties that may be induced or repressed in varying organizational formats. Such ties are key building blocks, supplying missing dimensions of talent and mediation in entrepreneurial start-ups, often making the difference between success and failure.