Flavien Bazenet won the first Sphynx¹ 2023 thesis prize1 for his analysis of the influence of journalistic accounts on the entrepreneurial intentions of start-ups and digital entrepreneurs.

The Sphynx prizeis awarded for the quality of their work to young PhDs in Management Sciences, Information and Communication Sciences and Education Sciences.

The award recognises work on the journalistic treatment of digital entrepreneurship, which has become ubiquitous in the media in recent years. Digital enterprise is seen as a solution to current economic and political problems, and the concept of the "start-up nation" is now familiar to everyone. The cinema has seized on the subject, with series such as Silicon Valley and Jobs romanticizing the world of start-ups.

Communications is the speciality of Flavien Bazenet, co-founder, former partner and Managing Director of an agency specialising in personal communications consultancy and executive influence strategy. In the course of his professional career, Flavien has reflected on the ambiguous and equivocal relationship between journalists and start-ups: journalists publish and fictionalise the storytelling constructed by entrepreneurs who use the media to promote their own development.

"I wondered whether the media's treatment of digital entrepreneurship influenced the people behind digital projects. This inspired me to write a thesis, which resulted in three articles. I wanted to study what journalists had to say and think about web start-ups, examine the question of whether digital project owners buy into the entrepreneurial mythology proposed by the media and, finally, the impact on the desire to be an entrepreneur", explains the young researcher.

What are the results of this work? "I found that the general and specialist media treat entrepreneurship in a homogeneous way, with up to 86% of them sharing similar opinions, even on contrasting subjects such as the internet bubble. Journalists adhere to the myth of the good idea as the main cause of start-up success, whereas the work of researchers shows that the quality of product and service execution is much more important," he points out.

How does the homogeneity of the discourse influence the academic world and the digital players themselves? "The work of researchers that contradicts the vision of the easy success of start-ups has difficulty getting into the press," replies Flavien. "What's more, first-time digital entrepreneurs expect their projects to succeed quickly and take less time to prepare," he continues.

Does this vision of an economic Eldorado have any impact on the entrepreneurial spirit itself? "The positive vision of digital entrepreneurship attracts some digital project owners more out of a rejection of traditional salaried employment than out of a taste for entrepreneurship itself. What's more, digital entrepreneurs are guided less by the desire to be their own boss than by the desire to have an impact on society. They are above all interested in the purpose of the project. It's different for a non-digital entrepreneur with a shop project, a bakery for example. Their aim is to be a baker and make a living from it. A digital entrepreneur in this sector will be looking to improve access to food for everyone," he explains.

Finally, "They are aware of the uncertainties. For them, the feasibility of a project is assessed more by the ability to mobilise their network and the capacity to learn than for traditional entrepreneurs. Evaluating interpersonal skills replaces evaluating know-how. Digital entrepreneurs can also test the feasibility of their project at a very early stage by taking advantage of the technological possibilities offered by digital technologies, for example by setting up a test site," he explains.

"Digital entrepreneurship is not just another form of entrepreneurship; it has its own principles, procedures and practices. This field opens up new avenues of research", he concludes.

¹ "De l'intention d'entreprendre des porteurs de projets numériques : l'influence des représentations véhiculées par les médias", carried out at Télécom Paris and defended at the Institut polytechnique de Paris under the supervision of Valérie Fernandez and Thomas Houy.