Lean startup for Opportunity Exploitation in Sustainable Entrepreneurship: Evidence from India's Sustainability-oriented Ventures

Abstract

Sustainable entrepreneurship has received considerable attention as a means of addressing environmental and social challenges through economically viable ventures. Existing research has examined opportunity identification, yet the processes through which sustainability-oriented opportunities are exploited under conditions of uncertainty and resource scarcity remain comparatively underexplored. The lean startup approach with its emphasis on rapid experimentation, iterative learning, and customer feedback has emerged as an influential approach in entrepreneurial practice. Though empirical applications remain concentrated largely in technology and digital venture contexts. This study examines how lean startup approach support opportunity exploitation in sustainable entrepreneurship. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 founders operating in the sustainability-oriented ventures, and the resulting data were analysed using gioia methodology. Four themes emerged under aggregate dimensions, experimentation for sustainability validation, strategic resource utilization, feedback-driven opportunity refinement, and Iterative learning for adaptive opportunity exploitation. Each consistent with the lean startup literature. The findings indicate that lean startup practices with bricolage approach provide sustainable entrepreneurs with a structured pathway for translating sustainability-oriented ideas into viable ventures while navigating the dual constraints of environmental uncertainty and resource scarcity.