The aim of this research was to analyse the survival of new ventures during periods of economic crisis. The article compares survival probability during growth and crisis periods. An empirical study was used to analyse new venture survival probability. Results show that new firms have a greater likelihood of surviving during crisis periods than they do during growth periods. An additional aim of the study was to analyse the survival probability of opportunity and necessity entrepreneurs during crisis periods. Results show that gaps in survival likelihood between opportunity and necessity entrepreneurship are bigger during times of crisis than they are during growth periods.

This study contributes to the literature by describing how crowdfunding platforms that host social entrepreneurship projects build and preserve legitimacy. We study three intermediaries, analyzing the actions they take to ensure that creators and funders perceive crowdfunding as a trustworthy form of alternative finance. This study shows that the legitimacy that funders ascribe to a project’s social and/or environmental aims is also a source of legitimacy for the intermediaries that promote social entrepreneurship projects. These intermediaries act as agents of social change, using a range of mechanisms to promote projects that seek to create social and/or environmental value in addition to economic value. Our study also has practical implications. We highlight the mechanisms used to reduce potential risks for intermediaries, creators, and funders and ensure their trust in crowdfunding.

Social entrepreneurs are gaining recognition as one of the most important drivers of social change, but little is known about the motivations and process through which their ideas are born and developed. In this paper, an analysis is made of the opportunity discovery process in the case of social entrepreneurs, drawing on the discovery theory and the concept of entrepreneurial alertness that, in this case, we rename as social alertness. In order to do that, a study is made on the role of the previous training and experience of the entrepreneur, closeness to other entrepreneurs, and closeness to social problems, as variables related to social alertness. Given the novelty of this issue and the exploratory nature of this research, qualitative methodology has been used, specifically, in-depth case study analysis. Our results have led us to propose a model of relationships between the variables analysed.